Youths from around the world descended on Egypt this week for their annual meet, the World Youth Forum, reports Reem Leila.  The third edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF) kicked off from Egypt’s “City of Peace”, Sharm Al-Sheikh, earlier this week under the slogan “Where Civilisations Meet”. This year’s forum focused on youths exchanging thoughts and ideas regarding peace and innovation.

More than 7,000 youths across the world participated in this year’s forum along with leading political, cultural and economic figures. This year, the forum hosted young people aged 15-40 to discuss peace, development and creativity.

Nigerian Rilan Akwaleis, a delegate in the African Presidential Leadership Program (APLP), believes that the WYF delivers a message of peace, successes, collaboration, and benevolence for the improvement and advancement of countries of the world via youth.

The forum’s management invited participating youth to celebrate New Year on 13 December by participating in the “New Year’s Tree” festivities. During the event, youth wrote their wishes, ambitions and dreams for the New Year on lamps illuminated underneath the tree. When the young men and women finished writing their ambitions, the lamps were lit simultaneously.

Sara Zekaj from Albania, who was attending the forum for the first time, came looking forward to networking, an event attended by eminent politicians and economists, as well as promising youths who have experience. Zekaj, who attended the New Year’s Tree event, wrote on one of the lamps that she wished to come next year and attend Egypt’s fourth edition of the WYF.

The permanent Egyptian mission to the United Nations office in Geneva in July passed a resolution during the 41st session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), titled “Youth and human rights”. The resolution recognises contributions of the WYF as an international forum for discussing global issues from the perspective of young people. The delegation told the HRC that the WYF, established in 2017, was a platform designed to support youth ideas, providing ample and adequate space to express and exchange their opinions without barriers.