Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - It was not the traditional perception of peace versus war that 800 delegates aged from 18-25 and 200 speakers from over 100 countries were discussing in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort. Rather, "it was the peace that we need to realize in all aspects of our lives," Nura bin Ali, a 24-year-old Bahraini multimedia specialist told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The three-day International Youth Forum for Peace opened under the slogan "Youth Speak We Listen" on Saturday, with Egypt's first lady Suzan Mubarak inaugurating the event organized by her Women's International Peace Movement.
For bin Ali and many other participants, "the forum is an opportunity to share views about peace from different perspectives, even that of Information Technology and how to communicate peacefully with others on the cyber sphere."
"Peace is not a far-fetched idea. Youth is the most solid resource base," Mubarak said in her opening speech. "Listening is a great start, but acting upon what you hear is more important."
Peace-seeking young men and women got engaged in a variety of sessions under the themes "understanding ourselves," "communications and information technology for peace," "developing youth capabilities," "violence or peace - a personal choice" and "health for all and peace for all."
Speakers differentiated between the two types of peace - positive and negative peace - with disarmament being cited as an example of the latter and living in harmony with others as the former.
Youth political participation and citizenship was among the issues discussed during the forum sessions.
Kay Wahlen, senior officer in charge of youth projects in the German parliament, said: "Youth political participation can be divided into two groups: formal participation through schools, universities and political parties and information participation through clubs and non-governmental organizations."
"An illustration of such occurred in Germany when the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party managed to change the party's position towards mandatory military service."
Another key forum session raised the question of whether the media "is youth friendly," tackling how young people perceive the media and vice versa.
"The ultimate goal is to lay the foundation for a new media giving youth the opportunity to express themselves," said Lucas Welch, former ABC News producer and current president of Soliya, a non- profit youth organization.
"The starting point is to cultivate social exchange and use that interaction to help people learn about each other."
Meanwhile, an eight-member delegation took the risk and came from one of the most dangerous parts of the world - Iraq. The Iraqi delegates were probably seeking hope for a better tomorrow for their homeland.
"Five of us came directly from Baghdad where it was quite risky to take a plane and fly anywhere," a female delegate told
