The iValues Awards Ceremony: The Initiative Remoulding Politics in the Middle East and North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa region is witnessing drastic transitions and massive challenges, from conflicts to coups and from uprisings to shocking reforms, and with a large and growing youth population, the iValues initiative is “rethinking politics” in the MENA.
Started by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, which was established in Germany in 1958 as a ‘citizens’ school’, the iValues awards have helped numerous young policymakers highlight issues which matter to them.
Their core principle is promoting liberalism , and the project has pushed participants who share these principles to come forward and discuss their ideas. The MENA region has witnessed revolutions and significant changes over the past decade, and much of this wouldn’t have been possible without strong civil societies in these nations.
With offices in the capital cities of Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia, the FNFF’s iValues Awards reaches great minds region-wide, with this year’s edition is taking place in Amman.
LevantX’s Lebanese correspondent, Louay Faour, spoke to Yara Asmar, iValues’ Beirut-based regional strategy manager , to get to know a little more about the Awards ceremony.
LevantX: What is the long term goal behind this awards ceremony?
Yara Asmar: Our long-term goal is to continuously shed light on innovative projects that seek to instil a positive and meaningful change in the MENA region. The award ceremony also aims to celebrate their efforts for not just going through various workshops, trainings and mentorships, but also their commitment and dedication towards taking a problem that a certain community is facing and thinking of incredibly different ways they can tackle it, to mitigate this pain.
LX: How is the process of meeting policy makers and putting forward a project or strategy? What are the main challenges?
YA: We’re still in the process of merging the work between policy makers, and innovators will kick off next year, so until then I prefer not to answer until we get things going.
LX: What results has iValues yielded so far? What major achievements can you tell us of and/or what project has managed to see light?
YA: For starters, iValues attracted 279 projects from all over MENA, working to tackle an issue in 1 of 5 categories. This on its own, highlights the “innovative energy” that is going on in the region right now, to continuously innovate and contribute towards community, ultimately driving a sense of unity, teamwork and development.
“Don’t doubt for a second that you do not have the power to change. ”
For now, iValues was able to create awareness on 25 major projects with true potential on tackling current-day primary issues, as well as helping them build and develop a network of policy-makers, journalists and other experts in MENA and from the EU. Some of these included:
The Lotus Flower: Women’s Business Incubator and Literary. An initiative which provides women and girls with the necessary resources they need to thrive and play a key role in leading changes in region long-term
Martha EDU. This would provide deaf children in Jordan proper educational care to help them become independent citizens
ABC Kids Smart School. Here children would receive access to their curriculum locally and via an online platform at the very first international pre-school in Sirte, Libya, which has been war torn by years of conflict
Min Haqqiha (‘Her Right’), a platform which combats gender based violence in Lebanon and lobbies towards public policymakers for the protection of all forms of gender inequalities
CCIboost. This initiative uses technology to influence policies and boost entrepreneurs working in creative and cultural industries
We were able to provide a substantial amount of funding for five of them, all of which had already surpassed the ideation and were already in the implementation phase.
LX: What sort of advice would you give youth looking for the motivation to participate in such events, especially in countries witnessing conflicts and instability?
YA: Be proactive, as much as you possibly can.
Don’t doubt for a second that you do not have the power to change. Even if it’s small change, it is still change. Communities everywhere face various issues, it’s just a matter of surrounding yourself with the right people, with the right set of skills or who have the proper mind-set in potentially achieving those skills, to work together as a team, to find solutions to those problems.
I highly encourage the youth to continue on participating in such events, even if they do not win. You have acquired new skills, built a bigger network, and exercised your existing knowledge and skills. Keep on going, because eventually you will have your turn to really showcase what you got and to implement what you’ve been so tirelessly working on.
Politics and innovation should come together to build a better future for our region, concludes Yara.
Make sure to check out more on iValues and the great work they’ve done with youth here . They can be found on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.