After having took part in the YLP7 National pitching event, the final teams that were picked by the jury got the chance to participate in the YLP7 Regional Forum that gathers youth from all around the Arab Region and provides them with the opportunity to gather and exchange ideas.
This two-day event that took place in November 2021 was held in a hybrid way: YLP Lebanon participants had gathered at the Coral Beach Hotel in Beirut to attend the event virtually together, they were able to communicate with the other countries virtually. It was a good opportunity to gather again and the participants were really getting to know each other more through the Programme. This get-together had welcomed more than 200 participants, including representatives of youth-focused organizations, youth focal points from UNDP Country Offices, the selected teams from the YLP, and finally YLP Alumni.
The event was definitely a success as all the participants got to meet each other and exchange ideas and creative sustainable solutions. The Forum had benefited the young leaders in more ways than one as they got to network and build up several skills. Special workshops were held for the participants that focused on further improving the change-makers’ Leadership skills. The youth were very excited to take part of the workshops as they grasped every opportunity to learn and enhance their knowledge, and specially that the gained knowledge is coming from different cultural backgrounds!
The Forum was focused on the upcoming Regional Youth Project that encompassed four main pathways: social entrepreneurs, community builders, policy shapers, and job seekers.
These pathways lay out all the possible future opportunities for the young change-makers that want to further invest in their SDGs journey and want to find a way to channel their creativeness and their strong will to instill peace and fight for human rights.
It was also an opportunity for the SDG Advocators to showcase their innovative projects to all the participants in a healthy competition as a way to meet and network with young social innovators from other countries. They gained so much experience and inspiration from each other !
All the young leaders had gained knowledge from this event as the main focus area of YLP7 was “Youth Wellbeing”. They had thus benefitted from a focused approach on skills and practices that will further contribute to their wellbeing and to their innovative thinking, all while exchanging such heartwarming energy from youth from all over the Arab Region!