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The Palestinian Youth Association for
Leadership and Rights Activation (PYALARA)
nominated Dalia Nammari and Saleem Al-Habash
to participate in the recent World Civil
Society Forum, which convened in Geneva for
the first time ever 14-19 July 2002, under
the title ‘We the Peoples’.
Participants from all over the world
representing various international, regional
and local civil society organizations and
non-governmental organizations gathered in
Geneva to witness the birth of an annual
forum dedicated to the civil society around
the globe.
Prior to the actual meeting, a training
course for journalists from developing
countries was conducted. Saleem participated
in the course, which included intensive
sessions that focused on communication
skills, visits to international and local
media bodies, a visit to the United Nations
headquarters in Geneva and meetings with a
number of UN officials.
Meanwhile, Dalia attended the World Civil
Society Youth Forum, which was held prior to
the main forum 10-13 July. The focus of the
Youth Forum, which involved the
participation of a large number of
youngsters and various youth organizations,
was the unique and important role of young
people in the world today.
The World Civil Society Forum, which was
designed to strengthen international
cooperation amongst CSOs and NGOs and
between those organizations and the United
Nations provided a platform upon which all
the participants were able to share their
different ideas. Both Saleem and Dalia
commented that the Arab representation in
general and the Palestinian representation
in particular were weak. Said Saleem, “It is
absolutely necessary that we empower the
civil society in the Arab World and ensure
that we are better represented and more
active,” adding that only a very few Arab
leaders and high-level personalities – one
being the former UN Secretary General and
Director of the Francophone Federation, Mr.
Boutros Boutros Ghali – attended the opening
session.
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