Rami Shamma:

Name: Rami Shamma
Country: Lebanon
Age: 24 years old
Language: English, Arabic, Russian

Relevant Experience:
• Youth Shadow Government 4 – Lebanon – Youth Shadow Minister of Education and Higher Education (2009 – Present)
• Trainer on Conflict Resolution and Conflict Transformation Skills – Development for People and Nature Association (DPNA) (June 2009 – Present)
• Program Manager in “Youth and Municipalities… Step Forward” National Program – DPNA (December 2007 – Present)
• Assistant Manager in “Youth and Municipalities… Step Forward” National Program – DPNA (May 2007 – December 2007)
• NMC 1st World Youth Meeting for a Sustainable Future in Bari, Italy. The meeting brought together more than 1500 youth from all over the world to discuss and come up with actions to sustain the world we live in. (January 19-21, 2010)
• First Youth National Dialogue – Nahar Shabab (3 days, November 2008)
• Summer Peacebuilding Institute – Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, USA (2008)
• Manipulation of Peace – Italy (Legambiente) (5 days, May 2008)
• Workshop on Conflict Resolution – DPNA
• Workshop on “Democracy, Citizenship, and Active Participation” – DPNA (2006)
• Safe Spaces workshop with “Save the Children” (2 days, 2006)
• Trained on Communication and Advocacy Skills in addition to team building at LAU Jbeil with MEPI (Tomorrow’s Leaders Program for youth). Trained a group of youth on citizenship, discrimination, conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills, volunteerism, and needs assessment over 5 training days with OTI in Odayseh.

Why do you want to serve on the board?
This is a new experience for me in such a position and I have been following up with the work of WYMD for some time now and I support and encourage such an initiative. Moreover, I would like to pass on my experience in many fields related to democracy, active participation, peace-building, training, etc. to my peers in different countries in the world.

What skills can you contribute to the leadership and objectives of the network?
I have attended many workshops, as listed above. In terms of leadership, I have taken a 12-day training program with the British Council, called Leadership in Community Development (LICD). Moreover, I am a member of the Youth Shadow Government as a Youth Shadow Minister for Education and Higher Education. I would like to use my experiences and at the same time learn from new ones as well.

What do you envision for the future of the WYMD?
I believe WYMD in the next 3 to 5 years should become a huge international network with a safe platform for all youth in the world to be able to discuss and exchange experiences, thoughts, and ideas about issues and cases related to democracy, human rights, and active participation. This will also help peers help each other whenever they face some problems with their governments. I hope I will be able to represent the Middle East for a future that encourages the participation of youth in the public life.