Name: Sondos Asem

Country: Egypt

Age: 24

Job: Youth Activist

I am a Masters Student of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo, focusing on the intersection between new media and political changes in Egypt. I received my BA degree in English and German from Ain Shams University, and pursued some translation work both in books and the media.

Then I became involved in newspaper journalism, working for one year as a page editor in an Independent Egyptian newspaper. Currently I am a board member in a publishing house that is a family business, and we are planning to extend our activities and launch an independent online media platform for the youth. Since graduation I have been active in human rights advocacy with Egypt's opposition, and was part of the youth movement against police brutality, emergency law, and military tribunals against civilians. Moreover, I am specially interested in cross-cultural dialogue, and hence my involvement with Soliya and Terana. Joining the Soliya connect program, I realized the importance of new media in bridging gaps between different cultures. It was an enlightening experience and gave me the opportunity to work on joint projects with young people from different countries, aiming to bridge the gaps among our cultures through the use of new media technology. I was then selected a Terana pilot fellow, and Terana is the new generation of Soliya, bringing young people from the west and predominantly Muslim countries in online dialogue in an extensive fellowship that offers training in conflict resolution and media production, using multimedia technology to enable constructive conversations about compelling political and social issues.

I also participated in the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations first summer school in Portugal, where 110 young participants joined a week-long program using a variety of educational approaches such as methodological and political inputs, small group discussions, peer-led workshops, visits to religious sites, etc. Themes such as multiple identities, globalization, the role of media in breaking or reinforcing stereotypes, human rights and diplomacy, etc. were explored thanks to the contribution of several regional and international experts who came to Aveiro to share their thoughts and have dynamic discussions with young participants. After the Egyptian revolution I was invited to speak about the Egyptian youth experience in several venues, including Aljazeera Forum in Qatar and a conference on democratisation in the Middle East hosted by the University of Oslo, Norway.

I am also a board member of IBIA (the International Business and Investment Association), and a member of its youth committee that seeks to engage and empower young Egyptian entrepreneurs to become successful in their new business and help support the Egyptian economy. IBIA aims to support the national economy and serve the development and investment in Egypt, attract foreign investments with the goal of establishing developmental enterprises on Egyptian land, reactivate the Egyptian foreign trade, particularly exports and economic cooperation with various countries in the world, open new markets for industries, products, services and the Egyptian expertise in the Middle East and the world.