Beirut is one of the most interesting cities I have had the chance to discover in the Middle East. It really is that bridge between the so-called East and West. Its people, society and culture are as dynamic and complicated as their politics and that is why having the session in Beirut was the wisest choice.

The session began with an introduction of what FIQR6 was and the point of this brainstorming session to prepare for the upcoming conference in Bahrain. In addition, all participants the chance to introduce themselves and which organization they are representing , which gave me the opportunity to introduce TIG and talk about what it does and its purpose to empower youth through technology. It was definite a minus that my Arabic was not so fluent that I could express myself with big terms as technology and globalization, however it was really an opportunity that I understand Arabic or I would not have been able to be at such a conference. Nonetheless, all of them also understood English, so my speaking English was not really such a problem.

As an Arab youth living outside the Arab region, but also experienced living in Egypt for the last three months, I was able to add an outsider perspective to the whole session. The first part of the session focused on Arab youth as leaders today and that youth are now the decision makers with its elders and that we must change cultural ideas that our elders only know best and youth must only learn from their elders. Next we discussed the current situation of Arab youth in the Arab region, where youth from all countries in the Arab countries got to speak of their personal experiences and problems most specific to their country. It was extremely interesting to see the similarities, and overall moist youth were disappointed that they were not being represented enough, culture of not disputing word of the elders, nepotism, not promoting risk taking, bureaucracy, economic issues, not enough opportunity for educated youth, media, emigration, and dependence on West.

The second part of the session was dedicated to discussing the five topics of energy, technology, social responsibility, investment and media. There were presentations and brainstorming where I also had a chance to discuss TIG and how they use technology to empower youth. I also mentioned the FIQR6 discussion board that was also launched so we could continue discussing the issues in preparation of the conference. Finally I emphasized the need to have more Arabic content, the Arabic website, and the Arabic contest that recently finished as space for Arab youth to express themselves. Overall the session did bring out many great ideas which will hopefully be implemented following the Bahrain conference in December!

Day 3- September 3, 2007

The last day of the conference was definitely slow and everything was running behind! The morning started off with speeches, which barely anyone attended since they were at 9 am and people were exhausted from the previous two days. The final session then commenced at 11, which I was not able to attend as I had to take care of many things such as my travel arrangements back to Cairo and other logistical issues. A meeting that I was supposed to attend at 3 pm also never took place. The highlight of the day I suppose was the closing ceremonies, which ended with inspirational speeches and the opportunity to hear what other youth thought about the conference. The video that covered the whole conference was also amazing and portrayed the positive aspects that came out of such a conference which took so much time, investment, money and effort by youth volunteers!

In the end the conference was a success in the sense that issues were discussed and youth were able to connect and network with other NGOs that share a common vision. Personally I was so happy to meet many Egyptian youth since I am in Cairo for 6 months. I made many great friends that I am still keeping in touch with here in Cairo. While the International Youth Forum was definitely an unforgettable experience, there were also many flaws which cannot be ignored. For example as a foreigner from the outside that had already spent a month in ‘real Egypt’ I found that this conference was really trying to promote Egypt as this ‘modern’ and ‘developed’ nation, failing to discuss issues that really effect the majority of Egyptian youth, such as lack of opportunity, employment, education and freedom of expression. Indeed we did discuss the issues on a surface level, but it never really resulted in any tangible solutions. Most of the people attending the conferences as myself do come from a privileged position of life, where we not only have an education, yet also the knowledge to understand and think critically about issues. By denying less privileged youth a chance to have their voices heard was its major flaw, since an Egyptian youth that attended a foreign school and lived relatively comfortable their whole life could never really comprehend the world of a poorer and less educated Egyptian. In addition, while there was no doubt that I enjoyed Sharm El-Sheikh and its luxury; it definitely did go a little overboard with the food and hotel accommodation. Something a little more modest would have been sufficient and not make this conference feel like such a contradiction. Perhaps not having it in Sharm would have been better as I learned that the government requires Egyptian youth to have permission to visit while me as a foreigner does not. It was sad to see how the level of respect increased as people learned I was from Canada, since I also look very Egyptian. I hated seeing my Egyptian friends being harassed and questioned by police officers and they were only treated with more respect when they said they were part of the conference. I found Sharm el Sheikh too much of a tourist trap and something too superficial to return.

As I don’t want to leave the impression that I did not thoroughly enjoy each moment of the conference, I will conclude by reiterating the positive aspects of this conference. I was able to meet all kinds of people from different countries and even better get to hear their opinions. It was particularly interesting to hear way Arab youth view such issues since I am coming in from an outside perspective. The fact that I met many great people and heard many inspirational stories that as a youth, I have been inspired to work more closely with various media outlets and do my little part to promote positive change in the media and have my voice heard. Our final night concluded in the desert where we heard traditional Bedouin folklore music, made out final connections, and said our farewells. Undoubtedly, I will never forget my first Sharm experience and international youth conference!

Day 2: September 2, 2007

The second day started off with even more energy than the first as many people had the chance to mingle and get to know each other the previous evening over dinner. This was definitely my busiest day of the conference. I chose to attend the morning session on youth involvement in the media, which the First Lady herself even attended! This session interested me the most due to my interest in completing graduate degree in journalism in the future. The moderator was great as he opened the floor to hear the opinion of youth what youth thought about when they spoke of media. I was actually surprised that we were even discussing such issues as the media being biased, manipulative and brainwashing entity. We also discussed how the media is used to form our identities and how it influences change if people are well informed. The result of this session was that many youth in the room wanted to create a youth media network or some kind of monthly newspaper where youth could express themselves and have their voices heard. In my opinion, I thought the positive energy was all great, but my greatest criticism of such conferences is that such heavy issues are only discussed on a surface level. I thought having youth involved in media is great, but media outlets also had to change to promote more freedom and less government or corporate control. Independent and youth media outlets must be encouraged and promoted but more importantly citizens must have the freedom to criticize and hold corporations and their governments responsible for their wrong doings.

Following another elaborate lunch, the session I attended after lunch dealt with encouraging civic engagement and local connections among youth and in this session we gathered in small groups and were able to discuss such possibilities. As a member and student intern with TIG, I thought this would be a great opportunity to promote the online community of TIG and the local as well as global connections such an online community as TIG facilitates. I mentioned the example of Canada Local Connections (CLC) project TIG has launched and how such an effort to create local connections online will materialize offline to civic engagement and community involvement. Following this session, I had the privilege of being interviewed by someone planning to do a documentary on the conference and express my impression and opinions of the conference, which will hopefully be ready in one month. This followed by a walk for peace and planting of trees that was supposed to symbolize peace. By the end of such a busy day, everyone was exhausted from the conference and either returned to their hotels or Naama Bay to enjoy the night life of Sharm. I personally preferred option 2 :)

Day 1: September 1, 2007

After tremendous measures to register for the International Youth Forum conference on ICT 4 Peace and find my accommodation to Sharm El Sheikh, the first day had finally come! Walking into the conference room and getting your name tags was surprisingly organized for Egypt. The opening ceremonies commenced at 10 am where we had the opportunity to hear the success stories of successful youth and opening remarks by the First Lady and initiator of the conference, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. While I initially suspected another international conference with excessive ego’s and self promotion, as the conference progressed, I started to realize how many youth actually do share a common vision for the future as myself.

The conference was divided into various sessions that one chose to attend depending on their interest or specializations. I attended the session titled ‘The Power of Youth in Promoting Peace’ which was one of my top two favourites. I particularly enjoyed the engaging nature that the moderator allowed for in this session as he went around the room and asked youth to say a word when they think of peace. We discussed such matters as to what makes youth unique in being the engines for change in the future such as their idealism and energy. We also discussed the importance of youth being involved in the decision making and continue to be informed on issues. We discussed the conventional assumption of youth not expected to make a difference and talked about breaking such barriers and youth taking the future into their hands with the cooperation of government, NGO’s and civil society. The panel also discussed the need for youth to promote peace rather than themselves and begin thinking outside the box. We also discussed the necessity of reaching out to war torn youths such as child soldiers and other insecurities other than physical violence, such as social, economic and political. We concluded the session in stating the need to bring young people back to the table and decision making process. However, before proceeding to promote global peace, every individual was first and foremost responsible for finding inner peace.

Following the lunch break, I attended the session on the ‘ICT 4 Peace,’ which was the main theme of the conference. The speakers discussed the way different means of communication such as mobile phones and the internet and the way that new technologies continue to changes peoples lives, overcome barriers, build bridges between boundaries, and essentially create a ‘global citizen.’ Jennifer Corriero, co-founder and executive director of TakingItGlobal (the organization that have sent me to Egypt on my internship) spoke about the role TakingItGlobal plays in understanding and respecting dialogue over the web and the online community TIG has been successful in creating and expanding over the years. She elaborated on such told as TIG’s discussion forums and argued that while such forums do have the possibility of promoting hatred, the TIG staff actually monitor such discussion forums to prevent this from occurring. The issue of access and the digital divide among youth was also discussed as well as the possibility of using the internet to destruct peace rather than promote it. Most of the session remained a discussion of what further steps could be taken to break such boundaries, how to make sure the internet is used in the right way and that such a message had to be relayed and encourage young people.

The opening day concluded with an amazing flamenco show and a delicious dinner and live band at the conference hotel, which gave many participants the chance make more informal connections, networks, and great friends!