03-06-2014
Academia meets politics: the final workshop in Berlin brings Tuebingen University and the Ministry of development together
The international team of the pilot project “Arab Youth: From engagement to inclusion” funded by the Volkswagen Foundation presented its results in a non-public workshop in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Berlin on June 3.
The results from the quantitative and qualitative data analysis were discussed among the 40 participants from the German government, the German Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW), the German Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ), the German Development Institute (DIE) and various political foundations as well as from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and researchers from other universities including Bonn and Leipzig University. Also, representatives from other organizations such as the Volkswagen Foundation and the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) took part in the lively debates. To increase openness of discussions among participants on sensitive topics the BMZ and Tuebingen University had previously agreed on not including the media.
Following opening remarks by BMZ director Bögemann-Hagedorn and Prof. Schlumberger four thematic blocs were held consisting of an input presentation each by the team members and comments by political practitioners (from the German Foreign Office, the KfW, the BMZ, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS)). Hereafter the discussion was opened for the broader plenum. Focal points were (1) the Arab youth’s demands and expectations and their political and socio-economic prospects of participation and preferences in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring”, the (2) education and employment policy and inclusionary participation of Arab youth and their prospects of success, the (3) role of political Islam in the political mobilization of young people, and the (4) analysis of dynamic political processes from a gender perspective. The workshop was closed by concluding remarks from Dr. Breuer (DIE) who also moderated the penal discussion among the representatives of the German Foreign Office, the BMZ and the GIZ as well as the team members.
Following Chatham House Rule an open and committed discussion among the participants could unfold independent of their institutional affiliation or self-interest. Governmental representatives thereby agreed with the argument from the project’s perspective on prioritizing development oriented and accountable governance in Arab partner countries of German development cooperation. Without such serious and profound changes in those political structures no sustainable development seems achievable.
One crucial challenge to German and European actors will be to (re-)obtain credibility among the young population after having supported authoritarian regimes for decades.