The World Youth Forum (WYF) will bring together thousands of young people from around the world, representing over 60 delegations, to Sharm El Sheikh from November 4 to 10, giving them the chance to engage with decision makers, legislators and influential officials.
The ambitious platform, under the auspices of President Abdelfattah El Sisi, aims to spread a message of peace, prosperity, harmony, and progress in a world built by promising youth.
This edition of the forum’s theme is “We Need To Talk”, a slogan that displays desire for cooperation, understanding, and the fostering of diversity.
It also gives the attendees, many of whom will be foreigners, to explore Egypt, with all its rich cultural and historical history. The event is built around five pillars, which are Youth Global Issues, Civilisations and Culture, Creating Future Leaders, Model United Nations (MUN), and Sustainable Development, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
Each of the pillars will be discussed throughout different sessions of the week-long conference, and will include topics like ‘Differences Among Cultures and Civilizations: Conflict or Integration?’, ‘The Egyptian Experience in Hosting Refugees’ and ‘Promoting Youth Participation in Decision-Making’.
The WYF in its second annual version will tackle two main axes: peace and development.
The first axis will discuss reconstructing post-conflict countries and societies, the role of world leaders in achieving peace, the duty of the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, counter-terrorism issues, and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
The theme of the development will include topics related to energy and water security, empowerment of people with disabilities, the role of voluntary work in building societies, the agenda of 2063 African Sustainable Development, digital citizenship, the role of art and cinema in shaping communities, ways to build future leaders, and the means of shrinking the gender gap in the work force.
An Arab-African Summit Simulation Model will be held on the sidelines of the Forum, as was recommended during the African Union Simulation Model held in May 2018 as part of the activation of the recommendations of the 2017 World Youth Forum.
The first edition of the World Youth Forum was launched from Nov. 4-10, 2017 in Sharm el-Sheikh. It was attended by 3,200 participants from 113 countries. The forum was a platform for 222 speakers from 64 countries with expertise in various fields, gathered in 46 sessions.
In the 2017 edition, the participating leaders and experts discussed various international and regional issues, including crises of migration and refugees, democracy and human rights, African stability and development, and globalization and cultural identity, as well as the technology and social media and their impact on the population.
