Egypt's World Youth Forum promo - Photo Courtesy of WYF official website
CAIRO - 5 November 2017: The World Youth Forum (WYF) kicked off on Saturday in Sharm El-Sheikh in South Sinai under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Egypt’s first international youth event is set to run until November 10th, bringing together 3,000 youth represented by 60 delegations from across the world.
The seven-day gathering witnesses the participation of official youth representatives over 18 years old, leaders of various youth networks, head of states, media figures and around 250 young Egyptian expats. It is held under the theme "We Need to Talk."
The official hashtag of the World Youth Forum - Photo credit WYF official Facebook page
The idea of holding an international youth conference in Egypt came during the third National Conference of Youth (NYC) in Ismailya, and sisi approved it.
In July, the president announced organizing the WYF in Sharm el-Sheikh during the fourth National Youth Conference in Alexandria.
The WYF messages:
The WYF sends to the world from Egypt messages of peace, creativity and development.
All for Peace message - Photo credit WYF Facebook page
The WYF also seeks to provide recent information about vital global issues of concern for further discussion by participants in the forum.
The WYF program:
The actual discussion sessions are planned to start on Monday, where participants will discuss substantive issues of terrorism, climate change, irregular migration, refugees, sustainable development, technology and entrepreneurship.
Participants will also discuss challenges facing youth and women in decision-making and means to increase the political, social and economic participation of youth and women.
Furthermore, the gathering will tackle the role of cinema in facing terrorism and extremism.
The agenda of the WYF features various pillars addressing various themes and issues related to youth including:
Global Youth Issues: participants will discuss issues of terrorism, climate change, illegal migration and issues related to refugees, the impact of conflicts on youth and their role in building sustainable peace and the issue of sustainable development.
Sustainable development, technology and entrepreneurship: participants will discuss international experiences in achieving sustainable development goals.
Youth will also present their innovative experiences in entrepreneurship and discuss the impact of technology on their lives.
Civilizations and Culture: includes subjects related to arts and literature, cultural identity, how to integrate civilizations and cultures, and to benefit from their diversity and the role of literature and arts in fixing the damages of conflicts and wars.
Creating Future Leaders: the session reviews major international experiences related to the rehabilitation and training of young people and the role of countries and societies in preparing future leaders.
Model United Nations (MUN): a three-day simulation of the UN Security Council (UN-SC), where more than 60 young people from around the world will participate.
Through this experience these young people will be able to live the experience of being representatives of the UN Security Council, helping them identify and work on various points of view and solutions during the discussion of different topics that include; the threats to global peace and security, and the challenges facing countries as a result of waves of irregular migration, and cyber wars and its threat to state security.
Modul United Nations (MUN) - Photo credit WYF official facebook page
The closing session of the WYF will witness voting on relevant recommendations resulting from the discussions.
The WYF preparations: Believing that young people are not only future leaders but also present leaders, the forum is fully organized by youth.
It is sponsored by national businesses including banks, as part of their social responsibility. Furthermore, the office of the president has been closely following the details pertaining to the forum preparations.
A dedicated team was formed to prepare for the forum. In addition, several committees were established to follow up on certain issues like logistics, content, public relations, media, budget and coordination.
The committees are formed of representatives of all ministries and governmental organizations in addition to the youth team.
The registration process for the forum was launched in August; applicants were requested to propose ideas to be discussed during the forum.
Reactions to the WYF: Egyptian youth utilized this opportunity to welcome youth from across the world to Egypt. They utilized social media platforms to invite youth to come to the WYF and to visit Egypt.
More than 1,000 young females and males from all the governorates volunteered to assist in the preparation process of the forum.
Good morning everybody on the world 🌎 Egypt 🇪🇬 wait you in world youth form.#weneedtotalk
Until this moment, Egypt organized four National Youth Conferences under the auspices and participation of sisi and high level officials.
The conferences discussed issues of concern and priority for Egyptian youth. The conferences were organized in Sharm el-Sheikh, Aswan, Ismailia and Alexandria respectively.
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