Young Leaders Program

The regional work of the Young Leaders program promotes youth participation and fosters ties between the national programs throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The long-term goal is to empower a growing number of young adults in the MENA region to become politically active citizens and partake in the social and economic development of their countries.

Selected participants benefit from discussion, exchanges and networking with active stakeholders such as experts and practitioners of academia, politics and civil society from different thematic backgrounds. Together they explore numerous political, socio-economic and ecological challenges currently facing MENA countries. Through regional activities and conferences, they are able to focus on the following thematic areas:

• Political participation
• Economic policies
• Climate and energy
• Social policies and trade unions
• Peace and security

The participants have been able to deepen their knowledge and understanding of inter-national and regional relations by attending conferences, workshops and trainings. They engage in public debates, address policy-relevant concepts and present their own positions. Connecting with other committed individuals from the region in such a way enables them to build on their own existing skills.

Regional activities gather participants of national Young Leaders’ programs from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. They are organized and hosted by the FES projects in the MENA-region or by the FES headquarters in Berlin.

For further information on regional topics and activities, please contact the respective regional project office:

• Economic Policies for Social Justice
• Climate and Energy
• Trade Union Program

The Young Leaders (YL) programme of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) aims to strengthen the political participation of young people in democratic processes. The Young Leaders' National Networks in the region mobilize a select number of young people and build their capacities to tackle major political and socio-economic challenges their societies are facing.

For these reasons, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung provides opportunities for programme participants to:

• form a network among themselves with the participation of experts from the political sphere and civil society;
• develop and improve their analysis, communication and negotiation skills;
• gain practical project skills and experience via the conceptualisation and autonomous implementation of small projects;
• participate in policy debates on major current issues at the national, regional and international level;
• access regional and international youth networks, and to improve their basic socio-political and economic knowledge.