Young Leaders Making a Case for Democratic Change

Building on its success last year, the Young Global Leaders Forum is bringing together a fresh group of Arab and American activists eager to turn their good ideas into concrete actions.  

“So far participants have developed and ratified 35 innovative policy recommendations to present to the U.S. Government, regional governments, and non-governmental organizations,” said David DeBartolo of the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), following a May 2-3 conference in Cairo, Egypt, which drew 47 Egyptian and American participants, ages 18-28.

This conference was the second in a series – the first was held April 25-26 in Rabat, Morocco; the third is planned for May 29-31 in Amman, Jordan – organized by POMED and its partner Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), along with key local institutes in each of the three host countries, as part of a MEPI-funded Local Grants project.  For more information on the conferences, visit http://pomed.org/activities/conferences/.

In addition to assembling students, journalists, young professionals, and other emerging leaders from Arab countries and the United States to listen to speakers and discuss and debate mutual areas of interest and concern, each forum is responsible for electing two representatives who will visit Washington, DC, in July to advocate for the policy recommendations developed by the forum participants.   

MEPI was attracted to this project after learning how the organizers brought together a wide array of young Arab and American leaders last year to explore such topics as the role of youth in politics and civil society, while generating several well-conceived recommendations for governments in the region and the United States to consider.

“We liked the idea of a project for young leaders focused on youth issues,” said Kirk Wolcott, Deputy Director of the MEPI Regional Office in Tunis, “but we wanted to see if the implementers could take the Young Global Leaders Forum idea one step further, not just making recommendations but turning these recommendations into concrete reforms.”

POMED and AID were eager to give it a try.  When the forum representatives arrive in Washington, DC, this summer they will meet with U.S. policymakers and others to present and promote their recommendations.  They also plan to meet with foreign policy and development experts to develop advocacy and lobbying skills that will help turn their collective ideas into positive changes on the ground in their home countries.  

The recommendations include such bold steps as calling for U.S. pressure on the Egyptian Government to cease media censorship, advocating the Moroccan government to reform its political party law to increase youth decision-making opportunities, and urging the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide a greater share of funding for non-governmental organizations in the region.

So far, the forums have generated positive press coverage.  The Morocco conference was featured on the evening news program of state-run RTM television, as well as receiving a five-minute spot on Al-Jazeera TV.  The Cairo event received broadcast and print coverage, including interviews of some of the participants, while similar coverage is expected for the Jordan forum later this month.  

In an effort to reach an even wider audience, including those people unable to attend the Young Global Leaders Forums, the implementers are filming conference proceedings.  They plan to post video clips on YouTube, as well as making information available on partner organization websites.  Plans also are under way to hold Social Networking Videoconferences in each of the three host countries, creating dialogues between conference participants and users of Facebook and other social networking sites.