Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports and Chairman of the Executive Office of the Council of Arab Youth and Sports Ministers, opened the Arab and African Forum for Young Volunteers and Entrepreneurs held in the city of Cairo.

Dr. Ahmed Riad Taleb, Minister of Youth and Sports of Iraq, Mohammad Abu Rumman, Minister of Culture and Youth of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Hassan bouhazaa, president of the Arab Federation for Voluntary, Abdel Razek Al-Marisi, Secretary General of the Arab Federation for Voluntary in addition to a number of ambassadors of Arab countries, public figures and Arab and African delegations from 23 countries.

“Welcome to our Arab and African brothers in their second country, Egypt. We are pleased to host the Arab and African Forum for Young Volunteers and Entrepreneurs and we seek to spread the culture of volunteerism among young people in recognition of the importance of volunteering on various levels as it contributes to the formation of a positive personality for young people and achieving the development of the homeland,” Sobhy said.

He added, "This Forum coincides with the presidency of Egypt under the leadership of H.E President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of the African Union, the political leadership is interested in strengthening the Egyptian relations with the Arab and African countries. This forum is one of the events that contribute to exchange experiences in the field of volunteerism and entrepreneurship between the African and Arab youth, and we will study the initiatives that will come out of the forum and see what can be implemented.”

Hassan bouhazaa, president of the Arab Federation for Voluntary, said that the Forum is one of its kind to gather the youth from the Arab World with their counterparts from the African continent. It will help make the youth aware of the challenges and common difficulties facing the development process in these Arab and African worlds, “We believe in the importance of supporting the role of Arab and African youth in finding creative and non-traditional solutions to issues of mutual interest through exchanging experiences, as well as highlighting the successful experiences that we can take advantage of,” Hassan said.

The opening events included reviewing a film about Egypt, a film about the activities of the Arab Federation for Voluntary and a film about the activities of the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports in the field of volunteering as well as a musical show presented by the Ministry’s Orchestra.

The delegations are from: Zambia, Mauritania, South Sudan, Malawi, Sudan, Uganda, Djibouti, Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Benin, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Republic of Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Oman, Palestine, Comoros, Jordan, Iraq, Somalia as well as Egypt.