Okeil: Arab and African youth need to exchange knowledge with other cultures

Nourhan Mustafa: This cooperation aims to raise awareness of the principles of international humanitarian law and spread a culture of peace

On Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights signed, in Geneva, Switzerland, a memorandum of understanding with the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) for five years, within the framework of Maat’s interest to promote the culture of human rights and promote the building and maintenance of peace, security and stability at the national, regional and international levels.

The Geneva Center is an international organization based in Switzerland that works to enhance expertise in the field of disarmament and international security, by organizing activities, holding training programs, and providing logistical and organizational assistance in projects and activities related to the control of unchecked proliferation of arms at all national, regional and international levels. The Center also works on issuing political and human rights analyses directly related to security and armed conflicts at the international level.

For his part, Ayman Okeil, the international human rights expert and president of Maat, said that the aim of this cooperation is to build the capabilities of Arab youth and raise their awareness of peace policies, renounce violence and the danger of the spread of weapons and armed conflicts. Okeil stressed that Arab and African youth need to exchange knowledge with other cultures, as to know about International law, and the promotion of a culture of peace, especially in light of the ongoing armed conflicts that plague a number of Arab and African countries. Okeil called on Arab and African civil society to exert greater effort in raising awareness and in the negotiation and dialogue processes in order to protect humanity and respect the right to life, which ultimate human right.

For her part, Nourhan Mustafa, director of the International Humanitarian Law Unit at Maat, said that this cooperation aims to educate a large number of Arab and African youth on the principles of international humanitarian law and its application on ground, and also aims to teach them how to resolve disputes rising between countries and work to spread a culture of peace and dialogue.