YOUNG people are everywhere in Egypt. You find them at home, at college, in the cafés, mosques and churches, at work, on the beaches and even on the corner of streets, harassing girls. Some of them, who believe in their 'Egyptianism' and feel they should be responsible for developing their country, have created a group called Nahdet el- Mahrousa [(NM) Renaissance of Egypt]. NM, established in November 2003, seeks to have a positive impact on Egypt's cultural, economic and social development by activating and engaging young people in the country's development, public work and decision-making. In order to achieve this, the 300 members of this NGO are working the organisation's three sections: NM Project Incubator: This section is responsible for incubating innovative development project ideas, until they are independent and successful national models. NM Forum: It is an intellectual discussion forum and lecture series, in which NM members share resources, expertise and opinions. NM Policy Arm: This section consists of several partnerships, whose aim is to inform public debate and policy in Egypt. “Many ideas come from Egyptian youth, but these ideas often are not implemented, as people give up or can't find the resources or support,” Mohamed Zarqani, the Director of the Young Innovators' Awards Programme, told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview at the NM headquarters in downtown Cairo. “It is the role of the project incubator to introduce these main ideas and support them, until they become fully fledged national programmes, that serve the country in different ways.” One of the incubator projects that has been implemented is the 'Young Innovators' Awards', an idea that supports research and development. According to Zarqani, the NM has received various innovative ideas that have emerged from graduating projects at Egyptian universities and have not been implemented. Zarqani has said that the NM is currently nurturing several active projects in the areas of youth development, arts and culture development, health services development, linking education to employment, promoting the culture of research and development, and preparing emerging young leaders and development practitioners. He explains that NM is unique among Egyptian NGOs, that are usually only on the receiving side of aid and support, for its competency. “In 2005, NM helped the Goethe Institute manage its Arts and Culture Fund that disburses small grants to independent, young, up-and-coming Egyptian artists, in order to promote art for social change.” NM is currently managing the grants of other organisations too. "This means managing the whole process, including issuing and disseminating calls for proposals, convening steering committees, capacity building and budgeting for grantees, expanding and widening networks and partnerships," Zarqani stressed. NM launched the Young Innovators' Awards (YIA) programme in 2004 with the mission of stimulating the culture of Research and Development (R&D) in Egypt. The programme aims to have a positive impact on Egypt's scientific culture in three ways: supporting research and development; empowering and developing scientists, engineers and researchers; and creating links between university research and industrial applications. "The YIA programme achieves these goals by providing young Egyptian scientists, engineers, and researchers with financial support, traineeships, and professional opportunities to engage in R&D at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels," he added. The programme has grown to cover all national Egyptian universities, including all 58 faculties of engineering, agriculture and science, as well as implementing partnerships with numerous businesses, governmental agencies and educational institutions. To date, more than 1,000 young scientists, engineers and researchers in these universities have received YIA awards or scholarships to support their graduate education. The 'Misriyati' (My Egyptian Identity) programme focuses on promoting the values of tolerance, peace and diversity among young Egyptians through an innovative curriculum. "The project has an established curriculum and teaching methodology. At the end of each cycle of workshops, participants are requested to brainstorm on means of contributing to their communities and spreading these values." The aim is also to build social leaders through a unique and intensive programme, the Community Leaders Association (CLA), a civic education programme for senior school pupils and undergraduates. The programme combines experiential learning, community service, discussion and exposure to diverse ideas and models. 'Ana Masry' (I'm Egyptian) is a project for promoting tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and social cohesion and responsibility among youth and children in Egypt, by using arts to convey its messages and values. "This project also aims to end the discrimination, which has dramatically increased in our society between different categories of society on the religious and social levels. “The underlying tension that manifests itself in various forms of violence and poor social responsibility threatens our national unity and deeply rooted values of respecting and accepting the other, the different, no matter how different he/she is," he continued. In the 2008, Egyptian Human Development Report that was dedicated to addressing the role of civil society, issued by the United Nations Development Programme, and in a national survey and competition, NM was selected as one of the best 20 of Egypt's 27,000 NGOs. “We hope Egypt overcomes its greatest challenges to development,” Zarqani, 27, commented, when asked whether NM feels its mission has been successful.
