THE ARAB DEVELOPMENT INITIATVE
CURRENT AFFAIRS
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n the wake of events in of this year, there have been a number of organisations that have come out of the woodwork to deal with glaring issues—long obvious to people of the region—that have only now come into the international eye. One of these, the Arab Development Initiative (ADI), covers a wide selection of issues important to many Arabs in the region and in the Diaspora. We had the chance to have a conversation with one of its coordinating members, Yezin Al-Qaysi, to get more in depth: KM: How did the Arab Development Initiative come about? YA: The Arab Development Initiative came as a response to the recent unrest in the Arab world. It was inspired by the Arab people’s desire to see change when mass demonstrations shook the Arab world early this year. As an organization we started off very small. Five months later we have over 40 volunteers working tirelessly to realize the ADI’s mission to bring Arab youth together. Although we were inspired by the changes in the Arab world, we are not affiliated with any political party or ideology, religion, or ethnic group. The ADI focuses on development in six divisions: Society and Culture, Law and Human Rights, Economic Development, Science and Technology, Health and Well-being, and Education. We hope to bring together Arab youth so that they can understand the obstacles in the way of development in the Arab world and find solution to overcoming them. Late last May we released our first video to announce the launch of the ADI. We hadn’t anticipated that this video would garner such a heartfelt international response. In a matter of days, hundreds of Arab youth wrote to us about how much they wanted to be involved in our initiative. In their applications, some poured their hearts out to us about all the things they wanted to do for the Arab world, others offered us to help out in any way they could. Not only were we encouraged by this outpouring of support, but we were also humbled by the sincerity and passion of those offering their support. We realized that there were so many educated, skilled, and extremely talented youth out there who were ready to dedicate their lives to developing the Arab world. With this knowledge, we took it upon ourselves bring our fellow youth together and create a space for us to play a bigger role in shaping the future of the Arab world. The most remarkable aspect of the Arab Development Initiative is the team behind the project. I have never worked with a more talented, passionate, and dedicated group of people in my life. We are also a very diverse group. Some of us are undergraduate students, recent graduates, graduate school students, young professionals, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs—you name it. The is also ideologically, religiously, and ethnically diverse, but I don’t think many of us have given it much thought.
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Our overriding interest is working towards catalyzing development in the Arab world through the ADI. We don’t have much time to think about our differences because we’re all to busy working toward a common vision for a future that we all want to see. KM: What are the goals of the Envision Arabia Summit? YA: The Envision Arabia Summit (EAS) is the ADI’s first major event. It’s goal is to bring together youth to start thinking about the future of the Arab world. Many youth want to contribute to the development of the Arab world but they don’t know what to do. The primary goal of the EAS is to educate youth about the challenges to development in the region and what role they can play to overcome them. Through a series of inspiring talks, engaging workshops, and seminars that help youth take action, the EAS will prepare attendees for the challenges that we face in building a better future for the Arab world. Another goal of the EAS is to bring Arabs together so that they can forge new friendships and strengthen their networks. One thing that we realized when spreading the word about the ADI and the Envision Arabia Summit is how disconnected Arab youth are from one another. There are huge pockets of Arabs in London, California, Michigan, and Toronto that we had a hard time integrating. We tend to form isolated clusters without having many links with other large Arab communities around the world. It was even very difficult for us to reach out to youth in Arab countries because the networks between us were so weak. By strengthening these connections between Arab youth we will be able to better organize and engage youth in the development of the region. Youth delegates at EAS will be tasked with putting together a vision for the future of the Arab world. Through their participation in the Vision building workshops, their ideas and visions will be compiled together in a document that will attempt to articulate what Arab youth want to see for the future of the region. The vision will be divided into our six divisions and is meant to be an intellectual exercise for delegates to think about what the Arab world can look like if we successful and overcoming all the challenges to developing the region. By envisioning a future that we want to see, it will help us understand what we need to do to turn our vision into reality. This year’s EAS is pleased to be welcoming delegation of youth from all over North America, Europe, and the Arab world. It hasn’t been easy reaching out to as many youth as we can, but we’ve tried our very best. The EAS will provide the perfect space collaboration, discussion, and exchange on issues central to future of the Arab world.