First Student Selected to Participate in the Mediterranean Dialogues Conference is from An-Najah
Mediterranean Dialogues, an annual conference attended by diplomatic ministers, policymakers, government leaders, and human rights envoys, was held on December 1st -3rd in Rome, Italy and was organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies).
For the first time since its inception in 2015, the event included the official participation of a student, An-Najah’s Zaina Hurani, who was selected by Unimed.
The Palestinian representation also included the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Malki, and the former Minister of Water Shaddad Attili.
Ms. Hurani, a fourth-year Physics Student at An-Najah University, presented on the role of youth in the Green Energy Transition on the Panel “Is Hydrogen Our Future?” as the student’s voice for the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED).
This panel, organized in cooperation with Harvard’s Belfer Center, hosted top international Green Energy and Economy experts, focused on green hydrogen as a promising solution to accelerate the path towards energy transition worldwide.
Ms. Hurani highlighted the involvement of Mediterranean and Palestinian youth in the Energy sector, addressing the importance of governments and the private sector in supporting young people’s careers early in the field, “When we talk about green energy, we have to remember that it can provide over 42 million jobs by 2050… so we have to consider the future leaders in the field and how to prepare them to ensure the continuity of the milestones we are reaching in green hydrogen.”
This annual conference engages prominent leaders of Mediterranean governments, business, civil society, media and academia to rethink traditional approaches to current challenges.
Since 2015, the initiative has brought together over 1000 international leaders, most notably the King of Jordan, the Iraqi and Lebanese’s Presidents, Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, the US Secretary of State, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Envoy for Syria, as well as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the first Vice-President of the Commission and many others.
The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, has noted, “The Conference’s two days of sessions will enable us to exchange ideas from different perspectives on the great themes of peace, development, and security, in a logic aimed at enriching our respective visions and at seeking common solutions.”.
