Thursday, 09 November, 2017

Oualid El Meriague, a Master of Media and Communications (MMC) student at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), recently had the privilege to represent his home country at the Leadership and Youth Summit, whichconvenes young civil society leaders from around the world to benefit from the ‘Uniting Youth to Lead’ program. Oualid, a Moroccan national, was selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants to represent his country at the summit held in Vienna, Austria. The Leadership and Youth Summit brought together 39 young political and civil society leaders from 40 countries around the globe's continents to exchange insights on the challenges and opportunities faced by young people around the world while meeting and benefiting from world officials and other leaders from Europe and the United States. The aim of the summit is to ensure that the youth have a stronger impact, and are better served by local and national institutions. Delegates had the chance to learn leadership practices and initiatives through engaging with high-level leaders and innovators at the forefront of their fields, connect with the best and brightest young leaders from every continent around the world, and develop skills and knowledge to advance leadership practices. Oualid said that the highlight of the summit was having the chance to meet and interact with world officials such as Martin Poliacik, a Slovakian member of parliament, who discussed leadership principles as well as leadership development essentials with the delegates. About his ambitions for the future Oualid said: “My main ambition is to lead and motivate Moroccan youth to contribute to the development of their country through getting engaged in civil society organizations and putting forward personal initiatives in a pro-active fashion. “Furthermore, I dream about motivating and inspiring Moroccan youth to be eager to contribute to their country's development while giving a lot of importance to ethics, values, honesty, and leadership through a philanthropist and altruistic vision”, he added. As a current Master of Media & Communication student, he said that his study program gave him the chance to develop his communication skills. The high quality of the program and in-class teachings allowed to develop my practical skills and competencies, which enabled him to participate actively in the summit with confidence.