Five days of intensive contact and commitment for 27 young leaders from across the Euro-Med region have come to an end, with a set of Policy Recommendations produced that will be pursued with a number of international bodies including the European Commission and the European Parliament.
For the organizers, the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF) and the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), Malta, this is the third week-long Seminar in two years. This Seminar was transferred from in-person to online as a result of Covid-19. While going virtual demanded reduced contact hours, high quality training and group work were retained.
The Seminar took place over the course of five days from 25th to 29th January 2021, during which the trainees had unique access to experienced global leaders, EU policy-makers, media mentors and influential peer networks from politics, business and civil society, with the overall aim to build the participants’ capacity for shaping policy and media narratives. The 27 young leaders from 18 countries (Albania, Algeria, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Syria and Tunisia) engaged in seminars, discussions and workshops, around leadership skills, media skills and formulating policy recommendations, in collaboration with expert facilitators and panellists, and under the mentorship of Members of the European Parliament.
The opening speech was delivered by the President of Malta, H.E. George Vella, under whose tenure as Foreign Minister, the YMV programme was launched at the Anna Lindh Med Forum held in Malta in 2016. Executive Chairman of ALF, Dr. Nabil Al Sharif and Chairman of MEDAC, Prof. Godfrey Pirotta opened the proceedings. The President of Club de Madrid, Former President of Slovenia H.E. Danilo Tὔrk participated in a conversation with participants, while a High-Level Panel on the final day was moderated by MEDAC Director Prof. Stephen Calleya and hosted H.E. Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland (member of Club de Madrid); Miriam Dalli, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development of Malta; Henrike Trautmann, Acting Director of DG Near, at the European Commission; Bernie Mizzi, Director at CHSMC and Head of Chiswick House School, and Michael Kὄhler, Deputy Director General, DG ECHO, at the European Commission. Both latter sessions were broadcast live on Facebook on the YMV and MEDAC’s Facebook pages.
The participants, in inter-regional teams worked on designing, formulating and advocating for a policy proposal on one of four selected Sustainable Development Goals – SDG4: Quality Education; SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG10: Reduction of Inequality and SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
In addition to the co-organizers – MEDAC and the Anna Lindh Foundation, the World Leadership Alliance: Club de Madrid is an important and constant partner of the Seminar. The programme also involves the British Council as co-partners of the YMV programme. The Seminar is funded by the European Union.For more information: https://youngmedvoices.org/media/events/young-med-voices-virtual-leadership-seminar-25-29-january-2021