WYF is an effective platform for dialogue between youth: Iraqi Amb

CAIRO – 9 November 2017: Iraqi Ambassador to Egypt Habib Al Sadr hailed on Thursday the World Youth Forum as an effective platform for dialogue and communication between youth from all over the world.

He stated that the youth have not come to the WYF to share ideas only but also concerns were discussed, pointing out that all the youth of the world came to the City of Peace, Sharm El-Sheikh, to give their voices to the world and to humanity and to transfer and share their experiences.

Sadr came to Sharm El-Sheikh to visit Yazidi activist Lamiya Aji Bashar who was kidnapped from her Yazidi village, Kojo, and enslaved by the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq for 20 months.

Bashar who participated in the WYF was sold several times in Iraq, Syria, and back in Iraq. She tried to escape, but in her fifth attempt in Mosul, she was critically injured in a landmine explosion.

Sadr said that the story that was told by Bashar was not only concerned with her personally, but also concerns all Iraqi women who were subjected to extreme oppression by IS.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and First Lady Entissar al-Sisi were clearly emotional as they listened to Bashar. Other leaders, such as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, looked perplexed at Bashar’s account of how IS believed they would go to heaven for raping girls.


Bashar, who was 15 when her village was raided by IS, emphasized that about 3,500 Yazidi girls are still captive. She asked all communities around the world to help in the fight against terror, and, speaking for victims of terrorism, offered efforts to build bridges between world ethnicities and religions.

“Your dreams are big… but your will is bigger, and your energy for building, peace and love is even larger,” Bashar said to the young participants of the World Youth Forum.

Egypt’s first international youth event is set to run until November 10, bringing together 3,000 youths represented by 60 delegations. The seven-day gathering witnesses the participation of official youth representatives over 18 years of age, leaders of various youth networks, heads of state, media figures and around 250 young Egyptian expats. It is held under the theme "We Need to Talk."

The WYF sends a message of peace, prosperity, harmony and love to the entire world. It is considered a strong opportunity for global youth dialogue.

The idea of holding an international youth conference in Egypt was made during the third National Youth Conference in Ismailia and was approved by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. In July, the president announced organizing the WYF in Sharm El-Sheikh during the fourth National Youth Conference in Alexandria.