Sharm el-Sheikh –Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Monday that there is no way for humanity to overcome current crises and the challenges to its survival except through the sincerity of intentions, ending conflicts, managing differences and working together for the sake of humanity and peace.
The president’s remarks came as he opened yesterday the activities of the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm el-Sheikh with the participation of large number of young people and vision developers from 196 countries.
In his speech, President Sisi welcomed the world’s young people in the forum which has developed into a platform for dialogue and communication between young people and a tool for exchanging visions among all youth of the world.
This comes especially at that defining moment in human history, which necessitates the world community to realize the importance of dialogue and managing the differences between people.
“God’s wisdom manifests itself in us being different, without discrimination in this difference,” President Sisi said, stressing the need to form certainty and belief in this.
The president concluded his speech by saying, “I am honoured by the presence of this unique and distinguished gathering to announce the launch of the fourth edition of the WYF. For good, we have gathered, and in the name of God we begin, and for the future we work.”
President Sisi attended the forum with his spouse Mrs Intissar El Sisi and with the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
At the outset of the inaugural ceremony, President Sisi welcomed the participants, who noted that the idea of the forum started in 2017 as Egypt decided to create a platform for international dialogue among world youth with the aim of affirming the values of human coexistence and launching a call for peace, preserving diversity and promoting development and innovativeness.
Also noting that the forum’s record since its inception in the year 2017 points to the engagement of more than 15,000 young people in its activities, participants expressed gratification for hosting the United Nations platform for youth empowerment, and for the forum’s achievements in the field of human rights.
The forum aims to bring representatives of young people from countries of the world together in a drive to consolidate dialogue, debate developmental issues and beam to the world a message of peace, co-operation, harmony and progress.
In acknowledgement of this objective, the United Nations Social Development Committee has endorsed the forum’s three previous editions as an international platform for the consideration of youth issues.
A number of participants lauded the achievements realised by the forum as regards human rights, citing the hosting of the UN Youth Engagement and Empowerment Programme.
A documentary film about the coronavirus pandemic and the world was then screened, reviewing what the world’s has experienced since the World Health Organisation’s declaration of the coronavirus as a global pandemic. The documentary also presented the multiple measures that countries of the world have had to adopt to bring the pandemic under control, including travel restrictions, the limiting of gatherings and closures which all have impacted the global economy.
After the documentary, an artistic show began with the participation of a group of artists, which showed the importance of changing the way of thinking to reach different results and highlighted the need to learn from the mistakes of adversity and crises through solidarity, avoiding ethnic conflicts and ideological differences.
It also underscored the importance of reversing economic, political and intellectual hegemony and the need to chart a new future full of good for humanity.
Following the show, Spanish artist Itziar Ituno, who participated in the series (La Casa de Papel), which means in Arabic “House of Cards”, expressed her happiness at attending the WYF, stressing the value of culture and its role in light of the Corona pandemic and the need to work to build a better future.
The four-day event is being held with the observance of tight health precautionary measures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A host of issues drawing on a new reality posed by the untoward impact of the pandemic that took its toll on the world will figure high during the forum’s discussions.
The three main pivots for the forum: Peace, Innovation and Development; are all meant to enhance dialogue between young people worldwide, along with promoting consideration of developmental issues and sending a message of peace and prosperity from Egypt to the entire globe.
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