Highland Youth Convener Represents Scotland at Dubai Event
Highland Youth Convener, Gillian Slider, 18, has been chosen to represent Scotland at a major gathering of young people - the Learning for the Futures project - in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Along with Kristen Neilson 24 from Glasgow, Gillian heads to Dubai on Saturday for the four-day event.
Learning For the Futures will give 500 young leaders and change agents from across the regions the opportunity to engage in a life changing journey and will help them in reaching, engaging and directly influencing 65,000 of their mainstream peers over a three-year period.
The project, a partnership between the Young Arab Leaders and the British Council, will be launched through a workshop in Dubai for the first cohort of young people that the project will engage with.
110 young people aged 18-25 years will attend the workshop representing the following 23 countries: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Oman, United Kingdom, Switzerland, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, Philippines, USA, Bosnia, China and Korea.
The aims of this project are; team building and intercultural understanding amongst the 110 participants, develop a forward looking approach amongst the core group of young people by working on the World Economic Forum in Egypt and helping them to imagine, believe in and seek a better future, enhance the young people’s self expression, articulation and communication skills using diverse means such as visual, audio and written media, build the confidence of participants in engaging with decision makers and making their voices heard in a constructive way and create a participatory and fair process through which participants select 20 who will represent them at the World Economic Forum.
Gillian said: “This is an amazing opportunity for young people to be heard and listened to on a world wide level on matters that will affect the future. I am thrilled to have been selected to represent Scotland in this project.”
The World Economic Forum has established a huge global profile for its capacity to bring together government, business and civil society to address key global, economic and social issues. However, through most of its history one key voice was missing; the voice of youth whose future was at stake.
If Gillian is selected from Dubai she will attend the World Economic Forum - Middle East in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt where she will have an hour to speak with the World’s political, business and cultural leaders.
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