The last week of March saw over 100 young activists and Global Changemakers, from over 10 countries from the MENA region to meet in Beirut, Lebanon, for 4 days, for the second Arab Youth Advocacy and Awareness forum.

The Global Changemakers from each participating country have been working on separate campaigns that tackle issues that affect the youth in their country. The Changemakers ere interviewed on Zaven’s Sireh w Infatahet on Future TV.The participants also received a talk from popular news presenter of Al-Arabiya, Rima Maktabi.

Rima Maktabi of Al-Arabiya gives welcome note to changemakers

The forum was divided into two workshops. At the first workshop, the Changemakers were divided into three teams: visual, video, and social media. Each group worked and mixed with Changemakers from other countries, and learned many skills and tools that can be used as a means of online advocacy, which can help them with their campaigns.

The visuals group worked with facilitators from Tactical Technology Collective, who showcased and discussed past successful campaigns. They also looked at the various possible ways to reach your audience, and what to consider when you want to visually communicate information for your campaign. The group was then further divided into their country groups, and they designed a visual for their own respective campaigns, which they can use once they go home.

The video group looked at successful video campaigns, and used flip cameras to create one long inspirational video that would encourage youth participation

The social media group introduced the Changemakers to the world of online campaigning, and the mediums they could use to make sure that what the visual and video groups did, actually reaches the public.

Palestine at cultural night

The second part of the workshop was all about body, voice, and tone, and was conducted by John Martin. Here, the Changemakers learnt skills they can carry throughout their lives.

Overall, the participants really enjoyed the forum. One definite highlight was the cultural night; each country was offered a table to showcase the best of their country’s food, photos, ornaments, and souvenirs. Let’s not forget it also gave a chance for all of us to dress up

It was once described to me to be ‘The only place where the CEO of Coca Cola, and the CEO of Pepsi can sit together and have lunch peacefully’

Last years WEF came in a time of turmoil; the economic recession,  and the Gaza War that had 1,300  innocent lives murdered. January 29th marked Turkey standing up against Israel, and leaving the Forum after an attempt to censor their then Prime Minister.

‘One Minute, one minute, one minute’ said Erodgan. Here’s the transcript of the stand up:

Erdoğan: Mr. Peres, you are older than me. Your voice is very loud. I know that you are speaking aloud because of the requirement of a sense of guilt. My voice will not be that loud. About murdering, you know killing very well. I am well aware how you murdered children on beaches. Two former prime ministers of your country had important sayings to me. You have former prime ministers who say when I entered Palestine on tanks, I feel more and more pleased. I can give their names. Maybe some of you wonder. Besides, I condemn those of you who applaud this persecution. Because applauding these killers who murdered those children, who massacred those people is, I believe, also another crime committed against humanity. Look, we cannot disregard a reality here. Here, I jotted down a lot of notes, but I dont have time to answer all of them. But, I will say you only two things:

Moderator: Excuse me Prime Minister, we cant start the debate again.

Erdoğan: Excuse me. First … excuse me, do NOT interrupt me!… First, The Old Testament says in the 6th commandment: “You shall not kill!” But there is murder here. Second, this is also very interesting. Gilad Atzmon, a Jewish himself, says: Israeli barbarity is far beyond even the cruelty. Besides, Avi Shlaim, Professor of Oxford who performed his military duty in Israeli army, says in the Guardian the following:

Moderator: Prime Minister, Prime Minister. I wanna ask to our host.

Erdoğan: Israel became a gangster state. (to the moderator) I thank you, too. For me … Davos is done for me from now on. I will never come to Davos again. You shall all know this in this way. You are not letting us speak. (Showing Peres) He spoke for 25 minutes, but you let me speak 12 minutes. No way!

Turkey’s prime minister has returned home from the World Economic Forum in Davos to a warm welcome after he stormed out of a debate over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan walked out of a televised debate on Thursday with Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, after the moderator refused to allow him to rebut Peres’ justification about the war.

Before storming out, Erdogan told Shimon Peres, the Israeli president: “You are killing people.”

Looking back at the past decade, the Middle East certainly didn’t live happily ever after. Let’s look at a year by year account of the decade:

2000: The big 2 triple O saw the start of the Second Intifada. Intifadat Al-Aqsa was instigated after the Camp David negotiations between Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Bill Clinton failed with each party blaming the other. NOW we know where kids get that from.

2001: This was the year that Georgey Bushy decided to turn his dolls (*cough* action figures) to real life and start the war against the Arabs.
After carefully orchestrating the September 11 attacks, which led to the loss of 2973 lives, Gassy Georgy pointed his finger at Osama Bin Laden, yet managed to have the media frame Muslims for the attacks.
Alas, the attacks against the Muslim world and Middle Easterners around the world began.

2002: March 12^th marked the then U.N Secretary General, Kofi Annan, passing a resolution that recognises Palestine as an independent state “living side by side with Israel within secure and recognised borders”
Perhaps another stand out of 2002 was  the commitment shown by the Arab countries at the Arab League meeting in Lebanon. On March 27^th, Egypt and Jordan refused to show up for the international conference that discusses issues of… well their countries. The Palestinian delegation walked out because of Lebanon’s crappy internet connection that stopped Yasser Arafat from skyping in his hopes to free Palestine. Tough crowd, eh?

2003: After Iraq referred to September 11 as being “the American cowboys reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity”, Georgy Boy accused them of having weapons of Mass Destruction (something he admitted owning proudly), and decided to wage war on Iraq – a war for peace. Georgey Boy doesn’t share toys, just like Joey doesn’t share food!

2004: The loss of the great leader Yasser Arafat; president, one of the founders of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, father, and a loved one. Arafat was allegedly poisoned.

2005: Rafic Hariri passed away after his car was bombed. Rafic led Lebanon out of war, and made it the great country it is today.

2006: Hezbollah-Israel war. Harb Tamuz started on the 12^th of July, and lasted till August 14^th. The war saw over 1191 murdered lives. One thing that definitely stands out in my memory was the fact that Israel was throwing football shaped bombs to target young boys and murder them

2007: Civil war erupts between Fateh Al-Islam and Lebanon’s defence army. Fateh has been allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda. Attacks started with militants slaughtering 27 Lebanese soldiers in their sleep after a raid on a town.

2008: Gaza ended 2008 and rang in the New Year with bombs and rockets, courtesy of the Israeli ‘defence’ army who were fighting ‘Khamas’. Over 1400 lives were lost throughout the 22 day massacre.
See Gazan’s are stubborn! We’re not giving up our sea!

2009: The Dubai financial crisis’ effects rippled throughout the gulf. Construction in many countries has been halted. Don’t you wish you were like Lil Wayne and ‘down like the economy’. At least then you’d know what the economy is like, and where it’s going.

So as we welcome the year of the flip off, we say goodbye to the decade that has seen more hardships, deaths, and wars starting (and ending in record time). One can only hope that 10 years from now, I’ll be looking back smiling – and not because I managed to survive this warzone, but because it’s no longer a warzone.

Remember; kill for peace and peace will die

Fakely Real or Really Fake - Rakaan AlHuneidi by TheGreenInitiative

Getting rid of an obsession is one of the hardest things imaginable, particularly if it covers our dry cleaning. There are many physiological theories that suggest that an obsession is like energy: it can’t go away, only transformed from one form to another. That’s the realisation scientists came through almost a decade ago, and the reason they began researching a more eco-friendly obsession to plastic, one that doesn’t come from crude oil, but from plants instead.

Plastics made from corn, sugarcane, sweet potato, and other plants are all the rage in Japan right now, and other countries. When this plastic is burnt, it doesn’t release any extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; only what the plant has taken in through photosynthesis. The plastic made from plants can be reused, recycled, or buried underground where it breaks down naturally into water and carbon dioxide. Comparing it with the usual plastic, made from petroleum – it takes over 500 years to biodegrade, and if burnt, it releases more carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and a main contributor to global warming.

So modern day technology has offered us a simple solution to the inevitable problems climate change is causing us, the question is, will human kind take it and choose to survive, or are we too used to our carefree – careless – lifestyles to switch to something we wouldn’t even notice?

The exhibition featured the works of many young artists in Kuwait who decided to show their passion for art and longing for change through a camera lens, old doors, yarn, scrap metal, and various other forms. One piece that definitely stood out was It’s about time by Farah Al-Haidar, a young Kuwaiti artist who specialises in photography, mixed media art, and oil painting. It’s about time was a photography piece mounted onto a reused canvas. The actually photographs and pieces were “ironed n old shirts, and hand sown to create a meaningful collage”. Farah described the title to be “appropriate for the situations that we are facing locally in how we tend to waste such valuable materials , it’s about time to stop wasting and start acting”

The photographs themselves were taken at various junkyards around Kuwait. Farah commented that “junkyards are a waste of our land, our money, and they pollute our air. We don’t have infinite resources, so why do we act like we do? Art is life, and anything can be turned into art, why do we decide to throw it away?”

The exhibition also featured many young artists with a longing for change. MP Dr.Rola Dashti recognised their efforts and stated that “it’s inspiring to see so many young people and young minds that care”.

Farah urges everyone out there to not “waste their time on useless things; try to sign up in activities, volunteer or get a part time job, and always try and make a change. The main reason that the leaders aren’t taking action towards combating climate change is because they won’t live long enough to feel the devastating effects – stop spreading negative idea’s and start spreading love and peace and creating a better generation and a better future. Once they see a youth movement towards a better future, they’ll recognise they need action”

The issue of residency trading has been swept under the rug for a while now, but we can no longer walk on the rug without tripping, falling, and breaking a leg. Residency trading is affecting us all, every day. Not only can we link it to a rise in crime rate, but our youth is affected first hand; they’re growing up with less job prospects, higher rates of drug abuse, and most importantly, they’re growing up with a skewed vision of the world, one that gives them the green light to buy and sell people.

“It’s part of our tradition and culture to invite foreigners visiting our country into our home and accommodate them for 3 whole days, no matter how unpleasant they may be. Not only is residency trading violating human rights, but it’s also violating and destroying our cultural traditions” said Nawaf Al-Arbash, a BSK graduate, and one of the Global Changemakers of Kuwait working on tackling this issue.

In July of 2009, the British Council chose 10 young activists to represent Kuwait in the Global Changemakers’ MENA  Advocacy and Awareness forum in Jordan. At the forum, the Kuwait team decided to start a campaign to combat residency trade. Fajer al-Rashed, one of the team members stated that we are “obliged to aware and advocate for a new sponsor system that would lead to Kuwait developing as a better nation”

The current system in Kuwait states that each person wanting to work in Kuwait must have a sponsor to obtain a work permit. This sponsor is often the owner of a company. However, in many cases where the workers are willing to go through life carrying out small jobs with no definite contract, as they can’t find someone to sign a piece of paper stating they’ll actually pay them for what they do, they resort to a residency trader. This is a person who agrees to be their sponsor, in return for money. They are literally selling their lives, and they don’t even know what’s in store for them.

“Visa Trading is the root cause of several socio-economic problems in our society, and tackling the issue is more than just our duty. It is for our nation that we wish to excel at improving the living and working conditions of migrant workers and leading this reform in the Middle East. At the forefront of this reform are the Arab Youth: the section of society that has taken charge of combating social issues and bringing positive change to the community.“ stated Mohammed Yasir Khan, an 18 year old Economics student at University College London, and a BSK graduate, who also works in research for the campaign.

The Global Changemakers of Kuwait are working closely with the British Council of Kuwait, Kuwait’s Human Rights society, and Kuwait’s Economic society, whose board is chaired by MP Dr. Rola Dashti. The team is divided into two groups: Advocacy, and awareness.

The advocacy team, lead by Mohamed al-Bous, a Political Science graduate, has met with several prominent members of society who are also working to tackle this issue. Along with the advocacy team, the research team, lead by Yara Al-Wazir, an A-Level student at the British School of Kuwait, they have come up with a list of suggested solutions to tackle this problem, and keep Kuwait from becoming one of the worst human rights violators in the world.

Laila Marafie, who runs Left Brain Right Brain designs, and is part of the advocacy group, is working on a petition that will pressure the government and parliament to amend the law quickly and positively.

The rest of the team who went to the forum are Fahad Al-Khuzam, Asma’a Al-Qadiri, Eman Fikri and Anood Al-Dhafiri are all working in various parts of the campaign to ensure the campaign excels, and that we protect our youth, our nation, and our people.

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/gcmQ8