Hub General Orientation event in its new round of 2020-21 with a special talk by Mr. Thembisa Fakude who spoke about the common struggles and importance of alliances and solidarity among the marginalized communities, mainly among people of the Middle East, Africa and minorities in the United States while Ms. Ntebo Mokuena spoke about solidarity from the Black Lives Matter perspective and among people of colour in the fight against injustice and white supremacy.

As part of the network’s Opportunities Program, our members, Zahra Omar and Abdulaziz Abubakr from South Africa hub, won the network’s opportunity to participate in the “Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and Indivisibility of Justice” conference organized by the Afro-Middle East Center in Johannesburg. The 2- day event tackled the case of Palestine as a justice issue in examining the tensions and contradictions of the academy and the community dialectic, bringing up questions on social movements and intellectual inquiry.

Hub member, Insaaf Ayana Isaacs, won the network’s opportunity of attending the African Youth Development Summit organized by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the 3-days event, delegates from across the continent deliberated on matters ranging from education to national security. Alongside 100 of Africa’s finest young minds, the conference culminated with a youth manifesto that is to be presented at the World Education Forum set to take place in London next year.

Al Sharq Youth organized its 3rd Regional Event this year ‘Telling Our Stories, Building Our Legacies’ in Cape Town, South Africa. The unique event was conducted in three main sessions that focused on youth participation in democratic processes, media as an empowering tool and the ways in which innovative youth can contribute to the economic growth and the uplifting of the South African society. Many distinguished speakers including Fazela Mahomed, Former Head of F&A in the Constitutional Assembly; Yusuf Omar, Founder of Hashtag Our Stories, Sihle Tshabalala, CEO of Quirky 30 NPC and Quirky Innovations and Thembisa Fakude, Senior Researcher at Al Jazeera Research Center shared their valuable insights with the youth present. The event also witnessed the official launch of Al Sharq Youth South Africa Hub.