In New York

Participating in the ECOSOC youth forum was probably the most exciting experience for me. Apart from the fact that it was my second trip ever and to one of my dream destinations, it was very enriching for me whether it was on an intellectual, professional or even emotional level.

 Since the first day we arrived, we didn’t stop having activities that allowed me to meet new people from different ages, backgrounds, countries and beliefs. The one thing we had in common was our eagerness to know more about  each other’s experiences and success stories and learn from each other’s mistakes. During the first two days, we participated in the youth forum in the headquarters of the United Nations. I got the chance to meet in person and talk with worldwide leaders like Trisha Shetty and Ahmed Al Hindawi with whom I had deep and rich conversations. I got to discover how it works at the United Nations, and the most exciting part was meeting with the official Tunisian delegation. I am still in touch with the Tunisian youth ambassador Mohamed Ghedira who turned out to be a medical student like me (we connected through our guilt for skipping classes). We were honored to be invited to the breakfast meeting organized by his team and be part of the Tunisian delegation.  I also met Tunisians who work in non-Tunisian organizations like the Spanish mission and the french-speaking world organization who were very welcoming and invited Hayfa and me to their side event.

After that, we had a very busy schedule for the remaining days. We had meetings with the Jordanian, Saudi and Danish embassies where in each one, some of the finalists of the Youth Leadership Program presented their projects. I got the honor to present in front of the Danish one with the presence of some UK representatives. What I liked about the ambassy meetings was the difference between the welcomings, which reflected each country’s culture and history.

Another interesting activity we had - and this was the one that affected me emotionnally - was visiting an exhibition in New York University of an American Palestinian artist called Jacqueline Reem Sallom The idea of the exhibition and the artworks really touched me and inspired me for a cultural project in Tunisia with the collaboration of the artist herself .

When it comes to my project InstaDoc, I got huge technical help during a meeting we had with some of the Governance Lab experts from New York University. My main concern about my mobile application was how to attract investors in order to finance it. Also, they showed me some similar ideas in other countries and focused on the pros and cons of each one.

One amazing person Hayfa and I met (and fell in love with too) was Usen Esiet, the associate social media analyst in the UNFPA. He made us in charge of the UNFPA instagram account. He introduced me as well to an awesome Palestinian makeup artist with whom I had a whole afternoon conversation about arts and their role in advocating social problems. And one other amazing thing he did for us is showing us a 5D short film about children marriage in the Syrian refugees camps and introducing us to the filmmaker himself. It was a very strong and tough movie that made me ask a lot of questions.

I can’t forget how much this trip made me bond with my friends, the fellow participants from the other arab countries. I discoverd a lot of interesting things that made me love them and want to be like them, such as the strong personnality of Dima from Lebanon, the caring heart of Omnia from Egypt, the joyful spirit of Assil from Jordan, the spontaneous reactions of Waad from Kuwait, and  the peaceful artistic soul  from my dear roommate Ahmed from Palestine. They are all my idols and my new international family.

Of course my partner Hayfa from Tunisia was the biggest win for me in this whole experience. I got to meet and share some of our best and most embarrassing moments with an incredible, smart and joyful person I consider now as my little sister.

So as you can see, the Youth Leadership Program was not only a simple participation in a conference to present an idea and come back home. It was all about the precious exchange, the lessons and the human experiences I had during the whole week. Now after coming back to Tunisia, I am more loaded with extraordinary ideas I saw in New York applied in other countries. I have a larger network of professionals but mostly friends. I am more determined to be a better young citizen, and the best word I kept hearing the whole time, a real changemaker.