Photo: Moroccan delegation to the UNESCO conference in Beirut

By: Houssam Metni (YES 2014-2015, Morocco, hosted by AFS in Gaithersburg, MD)

Over the last few decades, terrorism has been the main security concern for the international community, thus resulting in a new type of relations between countries.

This phenomenon is largely fueled by extremist beliefs inciting hatred and violence towards people from different countries and origins. The world has seen a rise in the spread of these ideologies, especially among young people in cyberspace.

The International Conference on Youth and Information and Communication Technologies: Preventing Violent Extremism in Cyberspace aimed to tackle this specific issue by gathering experts, scholars and researchers in the topic from all over the world. It was organized by the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO in cooperation with UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP), UNESCO’s Beirut Office and the Rotary Club of Beirut.

I earned the privilege of being part of the Moroccan Delegation to the conference after I was selected on the national level to represent the Moroccan Youth. Once there, I learned a lot by listening to experts speak about the topic and bring new perspectives and possible solutions to this problem. I also had the opportunity to write a report about a session entitled "The DarkNet : Risks and Opportunities", moderated by Dr. Samy Tayie from Cairo University in Egypt.

Photos, left to right: Houssam with Dr. Radyokov; with Dr. Hecker.

It was a very rewarding experience. The conference made me realize the urgent need to foster mutual understanding between people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions. This is one thing the YES Program has always been a model at doing, since it was started in 2003.

I would like to thank the organizers of the conference for the opportunity, as well as the rest of the Moroccan Delegation headed by H.E. Ambassador Mhammed Grine of the Kingdom of Morocco in Beirut, and H.E. Minister Mohammed Benabdelkader, Deputy Secretary General of the UNESCO Moroccan National Commission. A special thanks to my school director Mr. Bissam Bilal for first selecting me and for everyone who supported me along the way.