Symposium coverage: Youth and future challenges
 Edited by / Youssef Mousa

On Tuesday, November 21, 2023, in the Zaki Shafi’i Amphitheater in the building of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, a dialogue was unique in its kind and not a lecture that brought together Professor Dr. Ali El-Din Hilal - the former Minister of Youth and Sports and one of the most prominent innovators in political science in Egypt and Arab World and former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University - and among the faculty members and more than 350 male and female students from the college in an episode entitled “Youth and the Challenges of the Future.” Dr. Hanan Ali, Acting Dean of the College, welcomed Dr. Ali El-Din Hilal. She began her talk about some of the distinguished points presented by Dr. Ali throughout his tenure as Dean of the College - the period of the Golden Age - and the most notable of them were (Day of Excellence - Simulation Models - Period of Activity within the College), all of which were achievements that were implemented. for the first time .

Dr. Ali began his speech by praying that God would grant victory to the people of Palestine in the recent Gaza events , asking God Almighty to forgive them and heal the injured. Arab youth, especially economics and political science students, have a role to play in this stage, completely rejecting the idea of silence and not expressing opinions and change.

Dr. Ali continued his talk about the college, speaking about the names of some of the halls within the college that have the names of former deans. He calls on students to the importance of familiarizing themselves with the history of the college in order to increase the value of love and belonging to the college. It is a college that has given a lot to the Egyptian state since 1960 until now in many fields in various fields. Ministries and all branches of the Egyptian state. In most cases, you find college graduates in Egyptian embassies abroad. Even in the political axis - which includes 12 individuals - within the National Dialogue, half of those who managed the political axis for all of Egypt are college professors.

​ As for the title of the episode and the focus on youth and the challenges they face, Dr. Ali focused on three basic elements: (education - development - participatory), and Dr. Ali explained that there is a thread that combines the three elements.

Education and its value. Education is not just information, but the importance of these courses lies in the way of thinking (how do I think), following the scientific method of thinking, and having a logical approach in analyzing matters. The method of analysis is the remaining value of any educational process. Students’ participation in lectures by commenting and expressing their point of view on a specific topic is good education.

​ Education contributes to building an integrated human personality, as the majors within the college are linked to each other. The economy is a set of decisions made by politicians. People walk on their stomachs, so the economy is the ruler's primary task. There must also be an understanding of statistics, government administration, state administration, use of computing and dealing with the Internet.

Dealing, interacting, and participating with others each contribute to the formation of a person’s personality, and to learning about other points of view. The college is like a gateway that helps students enter the arena of life. The college makes all sources of knowledge available to the extent that the faculty members benefit, and then comes the individual’s decision to participate.

The second term is development. There is political, economic, and social development. They are three sides of one truth, different sides of the same coin. Society consists of (culture - economy - politics). When these three elements meet, development is achieved, and when it continues for a long period, it is called sustainable development. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without popular participation, and without the involvement of citizens, especially in small villages, where citizens transform from recipients of development to participants in making it, observers of its implementation, and evaluators of its performance.

Sustainable development is achieved through educating women. Societies move forward by educating women. There are many examples (America, China, Brazil, Argentina). There is a major role for women.

Regarding the third and final term (participatory), participatory politics, participatory economics, participatory budgeting, and participatory planning. These are all terms that deal with the process of inclusion and grassroots participation. This does not mean members of parliaments, but rather the involvement of people in the decisions that affect their lives. The more people participate, the more they will care about it, preserve it, and correct the mistakes within it.

The education process is a continuous process. If a person stops learning, he dies, and therefore development is achieved through learning. The essence of the idea is participatory. Through participation, the humanity of the person is achieved, the person’s self-knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses in order to work on developing them and developing his own skills, through This engagement is self-fulfilling.

​ In conclusion, Dr. Ali stressed that there are differences between generations and that each generation must make a choice because it is affected by the environment and context in which it grew up. Wisdom is the communication of generations through the transfer of experiences between different generations. The current generation must communicate with previous generations, and participate in improving the conditions of the nation through the positive participation of each individual with the capabilities he possesses. The individual must participate for development - for self-expression - to advance societies and achieve change.