There is power in the youth, hope, a sea of possibilities. Nowadays, the youth are considered vital agents in today’s society. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) as an organization believes in youth development and empowerment, creating different opportunities and initiatives to help Arab youth to advance and achieve their goals. We believe that inspiring youths’ ambitions may create positive social change in their communities or even the world as a whole.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Taking IT Global, have developed “Youth for Change”; a program for Arab youth that encourages them to utilize different online community tools and spaces to express their views freely, exchange ideas and experiences, and provide them with an opportunity to transform their ideas into real social entrepreneurial initiatives, allowing them to contribute to resolving the current challenges facing their communities. In this program, the BA aims to become a hub for the budding network of ICT talents in the region through providing different opportunities for young Arab talents to be recognized and nurtured and creating a functional network of talents across the countries in the MENA region.

I find the whole experience is highly inspiring: to see young ICT leaders come together and share their ideas in hopes of sustainability in a world that is in constant transition. To me, nothing is more rewarding than supporting the role of youth in nation building. Our organization will continue to support and reward youths’ ambitions in their ability to create an identity for themselves and move the nation forward.

Ultimately, Youth for Change is looked upon as a pathway that turns the Arab youth from assets to agents of change.

 

Ismail Serageldin
Director of the Library of Alexandria