The Fourth Arab Youth Forum Closes at the BA
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Alexandria—The Fourth Arab Youth Forum, entitled “Arab Youth and Identity in the Era of Globalization”, came to a close on Saturday, 28 February 2009. The Forum, held between 26 and 28 February 2009, was attended by public figures and hundreds of young leaders from different Arab nations.
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, inaugurated the Forum on Thursday, 26 February 2009, and gave an opening speech with a welcome note to participating youth. He stated that the Forum came in a significant timing as the world is suffering from a global economic crisis and is faced with the inevitability of intellectual openness as well as the issue of the role of the state and the private sector.
Dr. Ali Eldin Helal, Former Minister of Youth and Professor of Political Science, clarified that the Forum is based on the efforts of a group of active youth who brainstorm, coordinate and prepare its activities, and at the end reach resolutions and recommendations that is later sent to decision makers. Helal also pointed out that the timing of the Forum coincides with the radical changes taking place in the Arab youth culture due to globalization and recent developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). All these factors affected the relationship between youth and cultural organizations, as well as their vision of reform process in their Arab societies.
Engineer Nabil Samuel, from the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, then expressed his pride towards the BA and its intellectual and cultural contribution. He stressed that young people are the creators of change, for they can ambitiously foresee the future.
At the end of the opening ceremony, Nabil Helmy, representative of the National Council of Human Rights, praised youth participating in the Forum. He highlighted the importance of clinging to our cultural identity, one that is endangered in the era of globalization.
In the closing session of the Forum, held on Saturday, 28 February 2009, Dr. Serageldin announced the Forum has met its target, inviting a large number of youth from different Arab nations and giving them the floor to discuss issues related to their societies.
Later in the Closing Session, a number of youth presented the agreed - upon recommendations on each theme discussed in the Forum. Regarding the first theme, “the Cultural Scene and the Future of Youth”, participants agreed on the importance of unifying an educational model in the Arab world, activating youth civil organizations and establishing an Arab youth newspaper. As for the second theme, “the Role of Youth in Forming the Culture of the Society”, participants suggested offering a certain number of chairs in Arab Parliaments to youth, inaugurating Arabic websites online, supporting publishing and printing Arabic books and forming groups of young volunteers. On the other hand, concerning the third theme, “Arab Youth Identity and Sense of Belonging”, participants agreed on the importance of youth dialogues and the role of Arab media.