Successful Models of Civil Society in the Second Arab Reform Conference
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Alexandria, 9 March 2005—Under the auspices of H.E. President Hosni Mubarak, the Arab Reform Forum is organizing the Second Arab Reform Conference on Successful Models of Civil Society Organizations, 13–15 March 2005, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), in collaboration with the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, the Arab Business Council, the Arab Women’s Organization, the Economic Research Forum, and the Arab Organization for Human Rights.
The activities of this year’s conference are based on the recommendations of last year’s Reform Conference, 12-14 March 2004, during which the Alexandria Declaration was prepared and published. Composed by members of intelligentsia and decision-makers from civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Arab world, the Alexandria Declaration presents their vision on reform with emphasis on the preservation of Arab identity.
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, announced that this conference is organized to confirm the importance of the Arab CSOs’ capabilities, and that of the citizens, in participating in the vision of the course of reform. “A vision that is based on the role the civil society itself can play rather than leaving the responsibility of reform entirely to governments”, he said.
He added that the conference will present and evaluate the successful projects undertaken by various Arab CSOs to reveal their ability to respond to the real needs of Arab society. The mechanisms, objectives and outcomes of these projects will be thoroughly discussed during the conference and will be adopted in future experiences.
In addition, Dr. Mohsen Youssef, the Conference Coordinator, stated that this year, conference participants will include intellectuals, scientists and a number of youth members from Arab CSOs. This is to promote dialog inter-communication between the generations and draw on the unlimited energy of youth in the process of Arab reform.