President Sisi during the 1st Arab and African Youth Forum – Still image
CAIRO – 18 March 2019: A round of applause among Egyptian officials and parliamentarians was given to the impact of the Arab and African Youth Platform held in Upper Egypt's Aswan.
Osama Abdel Khalek, Egyptian ambassador in Addis Ababa, said on his Twitter account that the inauguration of the forum on Saturday proves that Egypt is capable of chairing the African Union and reflects President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's care for the issues of the youth.
The forum kicked off on Saturday, Mar. 16 with the participation of 1,500 youths, and is set to last until Monday, Mar. 18.
Bahaa Abu Shoka, chairman of Egypt's 40-year old New Wafd Party, said that hosting the forum is a clear indication of the world's trust in Egypt, and that Egypt has restored its regional role and is sending the message of peace and love to the world.
The presence of such big number of youth in Aswan, which is the link to Africa, affirms that the historic and current role of Egypt enjoys acceptability among African nations, Abu Shoka said, adding that Wafd youth members are participating in the forum as the Egyptian state cares for the local youth.
He also expected that the youth participating in the forum will be tomorrow's leaders.
Abu Shoka said that Egypt is seeking to interact and cooperate with its Arab and African surroundings through its chairmanship of the African Union, adding that it has presented a package of developmental projects in the fields of health, education, energy, judicial training programs, and building security capacities to counter terrorism and achieve peace and security.
Moreover, Ashraf al-Sherif, head of Parliament's youth committee, said that Egypt is determined to enhance the Arab-African integration to make a comprehensive developmental renaissance for the peoples of the region and to overcome joint challenges, which threaten the regional stability.
The states of the region have known that tackling the current unstable situation will require cooperating with Egypt to implement its strategy to achieve integration, Sherif said, adding that it is the first time for the Middle East region to share the same visions and goals and to adopt clear strategies.
Sherif, who is also the head of Nation's Future Party, one of Egypt's most influential parties currently, said that Egypt has managed to achieve unprecedented progress in its relations with African nations throughout the past five years, adding that the country restored its leading role and contributed to keeping and achieving balance in many states.
He affirmed that Egypt's assumption of the chairmanship of the African Union is a start to strengthening the mechanisms of implementation of its strategies on the ground.
The Arab-African Youth Platform targets protecting the youth from the poisonous ideologies, and bringing visions together to serve the whole region, Sherif continued.
The forum is capable of finding solutions to the economic crises witnessed by the region, he stressed.
Sherif pointed out that the political and developmental convergence of the African countries will eliminate clashes between different civilizations and generations and will build a new generation of youth to adopt developmental ideas based on partnership, teamwork, the exchange of visions, and the renouncement of intolerance.
The outcome of this forum will also impact the whole world, not only the region, Sherif explained, considering the platform as an important step that strengthens efforts to face terrorism and extremism through thought and constructive dialogue.
The Coordination Committee for Young Politicians and Party Members is taking part in the youth forum through holding a number of sessions and workshops, said Mohamed Ghuneim, a member of the committee.
Ebrahim al-Tohami, a member of the committee, said that violence, terrorism and armed groups are among the most prominent issues discussed during the forum, adding that a social, civilized and humanitarian environment must be provided to the youth to perform their role in combating violence and terrorism.
He also affirmed that policies and mechanisms have to be implemented to enable them to participate in enhancing the values of tolerance, peace, and respect for all religions and beliefs.
The forum will also discuss the poorly exploited resources such as oil, gold and uranium, in addition to the issue of unemployment, Tohami said, reiterating that Africa has the highest rate of unemployment in the world. He noted that people of many cities face great humanitarian challenges such as the spread of poverty and illiteracy, besides violence and hard climatic conditions.
Osama al-Refaie, another member of the committee, said that the forum shows the world that Egypt is a country of dialogue and peace, and is capable of gathering peoples of different religions and ideologies.
The Arab-African Youth Platform was launched with a ceremony that celebrated Egypt's chairing of the African Union and shed light on Egypt's position as a meeting point between the Arab and African civilizations.
The opening ceremony gathered a number of senior officials, representatives and public figures from Africa such as Mariam al-Mansouri, the UAE's first female fighter pilot; Moussa Faki, the African Union Commission chairperson; Nelson Mandela’s grandson; Syrian journalist and anchor Zaina Yazigi and Ahmad Ahmad, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
A set of Arab and African countries contribute in the AYF including Nigeria, Djibouti, Chad, Ghana, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gambia, Sudan, Gabon, Iraq, Palestine, Guinea and Mozambique.
The forum tackled topics such as the future of scientific research and health care, and the impact of advanced technology and innovation in Africa and the Arab region.
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