ZURICH: Fifteen Egyptians joined more than 1200 delegates from over 170 countries, in one of the largest representations from a single country, for the One Young World Summit in Zurich that came to a close last Saturday.
The second annual summit brought together young leaders from around the world to learn from the expertise of inspirational high profile figures including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Sir Bob Geldof, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway as well as Wael Ghonim.
In light of the January 25 Revolution, most delegates were eager to meet and interact with their Egyptian counterparts, who were in turn keen on representing their country.
“When people find out I’m Egyptian they look at me differently,” Nada Khalil, who was selected to participate in the summit for her leadership skills, told Daily News Egypt.
On her first trip outside Egypt, Khalil said she did not realize the rest of the world was this aware of the Egyptian revolution. “It makes me very proud to be Egyptian,” she said.
“This is a role I am proud to have as an Egyptian,” Mahmoud El-Refai, one of 30 people from around the world sponsored by Siemens to attend the summit, told DNE. “People talk about change and how it is difficult and how world leaders are part of the problem as well as the solution … [Egyptians have proven that] you should never underestimate the power of the people — in 18 days we toppled a 30-year-old regime.”
“It is an exciting time to be young,” El-Refai said, “Our generation has a shot at changing the future.”
Raed Abo Hussein, a delegate from Menufiya sponsored by Barclays, said that all young leaders are bound by one common belief — and that is all efforts and time should be directed towards facing common challenges such as climate change and non-renewable resources.
“We need to cooperate to push the world for a better environment and peaceful world … There is no time for conflicts, it is time to rise against challenges,” he said, “Global problems do not discriminate, they apply to everyone.”
Waleed Ahmed Haroun, an Egyptian delegate representing Education for Employment foundation, believes that Egypt can help developed countries overcome some of their problems.
“I met a Portuguese guy who told me ‘We’re afraid to go to the square like you to solve our crises’,” he told DNE.
Haroun is also keen on relaying to Egyptians the innovative ways in which people around the world think. “I want to show people in Egypt that others have ideas and that you can speak up as well and share and implement your own ideas.”
While other delegates were eager to share their experiences with the revolution, Rehab Atwa believes it is time to stop talking about what Egypt achieved and “start changing the way we work.”
“The production wheel is already turning, we need innovative ideas to change the way we have been working,” Atwa said, “We need an ‘Egyptian Dream’ similar to the ‘American Dream’.”
Cultural exchange
The Egyptian delegates set out to exchange ideas and experiences with their counterparts from around the world as well as learn from the expertise of the remarkable list of counselors speaking on the different panels.
“I wanted to expand my network, meet new people and exchange experiences,” said Moataz Tageldin, one of the Egyptian delegates, and president of SIFE Menufiya.
Tageldin was one of seven delegates sponsored by Arjowiggins Creative Papers to represent the Middle East in its innovative project Blank Sheet, which encourages leaders in different fields to come up with creative ideas from a blank sheet of paper.
“Tageldin was selected because he showed leadership skills and is very creative,” Farida Tir, brand manager at Arjowiggins told DNE, “We also wanted to give space for the Middle East, especially Egypt because it is changing.”
Egyptian delegate Jamal Abdel Dayem said he read about One Young World and connected with the idea and wanted to be a part of it.
“I read that the summit included inspirational characters speaking about global issues that I’m very passionate about … I also wanted to scope out possible projects I can work on,” he told DNE.
El-Refai on the other hand saw the summit as a “platform for youth to come together and share ideas,” describing it as “fertile land for new projects.”
El-Refai is currently involved in It’s One Humanity, a social network aimed at uniting humanitarians around the world and collecting their efforts and voices to ultimately create powerful grass-root social movements.
Abo Hussein also found the summit a great opportunity for active young leaders from around the world to meet to “exchange culture, ideas, promote reform, mutual understanding, peace and global citizenship.”
Inaugurating One Young World
The second annual summit was inaugurated by its founders David Jones and Kate Robertson and included motivational speeches by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Tutu and Geldof that followed an emotional flag procession.
Geldof delivered a unique speech, describing the American as well as European leaderships as “grotesque failures.”
“You’re not kids anymore, you’re grown ups who think,” he told attendees, “you have to get us out of this mess because we have failed.”
His address was followed by an inspirational speech by Tutu, who said that all the participants belong to “that group of all the best partners, collaborators, fellow workers … Have you noticed?
“Just think of what young people have done in Egypt, Tunis and Libya,” he said.
“You are remarkable because you dream, one day we will all wake up to the fact that we are actually family.”
Tutu said that this generation can eliminate hunger, poverty and other global problems, pointing to how much is spent on bombs and guns. “We need a small fraction of these amounts and every child will have access to decent water, education …etc,” he added.
He then proclaimed that God is looking down on One Young World and begins to smile. “God is saying ‘Hey you, you might not be a VIP, but you’re a VSP — a very special person.”
The summit included a jam-packed schedule of sessions and discussion plenary based on six key resolutions global business, media, global health, interfaith dialogue, environment and leadership.
Wael Ghonim and social media
A very popular Ghonim shared the stage with Oscar Morales, creator of One Million Voices against FARC on Facebook, in the plenary discussing media.
Widely credited for calling for the Jan. 25 protests on Facebook, Ghonim told participants that there is no magic in the tools, but rather the magic lies in their application.
“Social media does not spark revolutions, it has the same impact as SMS or phones,” he said, “it only allows people to communicate.”
Ghonim predicted that the world will experience major change in leadership in the coming few years, where “the cause will become the hero.”
“People rallied behind the cause without knowing who initiated the call,” he said referring to the Facebook page “We are all Khaled Said.”
Ghonim explained that the power of the internet lies in its ability to let people share their opinions, explaining that the key is in “engagement.”
“Engagement is critical, you have to make sure everyone is involved and there is no leader,” citing the Khaled Said Facebook page which included polls and various discussions.
“People responded to the [Jan. 25] call because it was anonymous,” he said.
Another tip Ghonim shared was the importance of “scaling.”
“One of the most important things I learned by working at Google is that you have to scale your efforts, think of causes that need to be scaled,” he said, explaining that young leaders should work towards a goal anyway without caring about the results.
“On Jan. 24 I was asked if the call for protests will change anything, and I said I don’t care.”
All talk?
While delegates agreed that the various sessions have been more than helpful, they said the summit is not as interactive as they’d hoped, saying more time should have been allocated for interaction between the speakers or counselors and the young delegates.
Haroun suggested adding an extra day after the summit concludes to give a chance for delegates to exchange ideas with the experts.
Raghda Abdel Hamid, attending as a youth ambassador for Arab Thought Foundation, said there is a gap between the delegates and the speakers.
“The counselors speak, and the speakers speak but there is not thread connecting the two,” she said.
Nada Khalil also echoed the same sentiment, saying she wished there was a chance for delegates to interact with the counselors.
“Sitting there for long hours listening to speeches is not as effective as when you’re actually acting,” she said.
Closing ceremony
The One Young Summit concluded with a speech by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, who said that this generation “is the luckiest generation in human history.”
He explained that the emergence of Facebook and Twitter as well as other high-tech gadgets made communication instantaneous.
“Distance doesn’t have any meaning in the virtual world, and it’s costless,” he said.
Yunus added that his generation created a different world for themselves, and that they are the most powerful and knowledgeable generation.
He explained that with this kind of speed, everything will be obsolete and that the distance between the possible and impossible shrinks.
“Are you aware that you have the power? What are you going to do with it? How will you shift the gear of this world?” he asked attendees.
He urged the young leaders to design ideas for social businesses, inspiring One Young World to create a social business fund on the spot.
After One Young World’s founders announced that the winning host cities for 2012 and 2013 will be Pittsburgh and Johannesburg respectively, seven delegates representing North America, South America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia took the stage to announce an impromptu initiative dubbed “Wake Up Call.”
The initiative urges attendees to send a message outside every government building in the world, to every corporation, to every individual and every community on Feb. 21 2012 —“World, this is a wakeup call!”
Wael Ghonim and Oscar Morales. (One Young World 2011)
