Egypt NGO building bridges with Europe

An Egyptian NGO is looking to build bridges with Europe. The Better World Foundation (BW) is gathering 7 young Egyptians to participate in a case study trip to Europe in early November where they will discuss global challenged such as migration, integration, social inequality and gender equality.

The trip will take place form November 1-14 and will also include participants from Palestine, the NGO said in a press statement.

“The Case Study Trip (CST) was initiated by the European Students’ Forum AEGEE as part of its current flagship project ‘Beyond Europe’,” BW said in the statement.

AEGEE is the largest interdisciplinary student organization in Europe, with some 15,000 members from all over the continent.

“This initiative is made possible by AEGEE’s international partnerships with and Better World Foundation in Egypt and the Students’ Forum Institute in Palestine,” the statement added.

During the CST, the participants from Europe, Egypt and Palestine will attempt to tackle global challenges in three ways: by participating in lectures and workshops, visiting various organizations that conduct work relating to the relevant global challenges, and taking part in street action by conducting several surveys.

In Germany the participants will focus on migration and gender equality issues. There they will visit a migrant district and meet a representative of an NGO striving for women’s’ rights. After Cologne and Aachen, the participants will be heading to Brussels where they will have a chance to visit the head offices of the European Commission, as well as meet representatives of the head office of AEGEE-Europe and European Youth Forum (EYF).

Theodor Kulczycki of BW told Bikya Masr that the mission is “about building bridges between individuals and organizations around the world.

“While discussing global citizenship is not a stated goal, the idea of ‘global challenges’ that we hope to deal with certainly carries the implication of responsibilities (and rights) that extend beyond one’s own particular city, nation, or region,” he continued.

“We hope that the participants will take home the lesson that although it is important to understand the dimensions of these challenges on a global scale, the first step to tackling them is to take action in your community,” Kulczycki added.

The final days of the CST will be spent in Maastricht, where participants will discuss and compare social inequality issues in European and Arab countries, as well as visit a center where homeless people can get food and support.

In each city, BW said the participants will interview local people to find out their opinions about global challenges. Finally, at the end of the CST the participants will generate follow-up ideas and future projects to ensure a long-lasting cooperation between Europe and the Arab World.

Prisca Merz, the initiator of the “EuroArab” project states that this is a special project for AEGEE as it involves partners from Palestine and Egypt and “gives a unique opportunity for each of the partner organization and every participant.”

She stressed the importance of the particular global challenges being discussed in the CST.

“All of those issues are of great importance when talking about the cooperation between Arab and European countries, and we believe that young people as the leaders of tomorrow have to get to know each other’s cultures. Through this dialogue, the foundations for a mutual understanding will be laid, which is indispensable in today’s world that is all the time becoming closer.

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