World Youth Parliament for Water in MEM Summit

Photo Credit *USI*

Five participant from the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) attended the first edition of the Middle East Mediterranean (MEM) summer summit, between August 16 – 27th, 2018 organised by USI MEM Freethinking Platform, at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, with the support of Secrétariat international de l'eau (SIE) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The Middle East Mediterranean (MEM) summer summit is a ten-day program, consisting of a series of seminars and workshops, and a two-day forum, bringing together policy- and decision makers, business men and women, entrepreneurs and young leaders from the Middle East, Mediterranean, European, and North African countries. 

A number of 150 young leaders from 30 countries were invted to participate in the first edition of MEM in order to develop a vision based on dialogue and a shared educational and cultural experiences. 
Tunisia, as a first model of democratic transition in the Arab World and a clear example of a country’s successful policy to an integrated society , was the guest of honor at this year’s Summit. A lot of discussion on the geopolitcs of the region, the relationship "water, peace, and borders", etc. Different proposals were formulated by the youth participants during the seminars and workshops.

The work of WYPW focus actually on issues related to environment, peace and inequity. In this MEM forum, the participants involved in Water and Peace session organized by the international movement called "Blue Peace" (it is based on the idea that managing water resources around the world fairly and efficiently can help to achieve sustainable peace).

During the MEM Summit, SDC sponsored a panel to promote Blue Peace in the Middle East and Mediterranean Regions. 

A panel on "The Blue Peace Movement: Transboundary Water and Peace Sustainability" represented by : 

-Danilo Türk – Chairman, Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace; Political Advisor of the Geneva Water Hub, Former President of Slovenia.
-Maysoon Al-Zoubi – Former Secretary-General of the Jordan Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Jordan.
-Mufleh Alalaween Al Abbadi – Regional Blue Peace Coordinator, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Jordan.
-Pio Wennubst – Vice Director General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, Switzerland).
-Young Change Maker – Selected from the Seminar.
-Lindsey Aldaco-Manner – President, World Youth Parliament for Water.
-Moderated by: John Sibi-Okumu, Journalist, Kenya.

This panel was organized to raise awarness on how transboundary cooperation is very importante in roder to provide peace by sharing different concrete examples.

The forum ended by a concert with the Blue Peace Orchestra, organised with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).