Middle East Youth Initiative Convenes with Young Arab Leaders Forum and Silatech in Beirut

Representatives from the Middle East Youth Initiative participated in two notable events on youth development issues in the Middle East: the Young Arab Leaders Annual Forum from May 1 to 3 and a Silatech Knowledge Consortium meeting on May 3. Both events were held in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Young Arab Leaders Annual Forum, entitled 'Creating Impact Within and Beyond: the Way Forward,' addressed key areas in youth development such as education, employment opportunities for Arab youth, leadership skills development, and entrepreneurship. Tarik Yousef and Yasar Jarrar from the Dubai School of Government moderated a debate between representatives of Arab youth and regional business leaders. Navtej Dhillon, Director of the Middle East Youth Initiative, Samantha Constant, Communications Specialist for the Middle East Youth Initiative, and Paul Dyer, Research Associate at the Dubai School of Government, were also in attendance at the forum.

On May 3, Navtej Dhillon, Samantha Constant, Tarik Yousef, and Paul Dyer attended the Silatech Knowledge Consortium meeting. Silatech is an initiative under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned of Qatar designed to promote youth employment. The meeting of the Knowledge Consortium - which is comprised of the Dubai School of Government, the Wolfensohn Center for Development, the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation, the Nike Foundation, the Issam Fares Institute at the American University in Beirut, and the Gallup Organization - was convened in order to review programs to be unveiled at the 2009 Doha Summit in June.