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included the first High-Level Debate with The Elders (2012)

involving former President Jimmy Carter and President

Mary Robinson, and dialogue events with the Secretary-

General of the League of Arab States and the President of

the European Parliament. The exchange component of the

YAV programme has allowed hundreds of debaters from

the Arab region to travel to international events in Europe

and the wider world, as well as peer-to-peer good practices

exchange between debate trainers on the two shores of the

Mediterranean.

In the YAV programme, more than 1,000 debates took

place, engaging more than 9,000 debaters with 59 per cent

male and 41 per cent female participation.

Translation for the Mediterranean

The Anna Lindh Foundation has continually supported the

efforts of translators throughout the Mediterranean as trans-

lation provides a basis for the convergence of ideas, concepts

and cultures through its reception.

Over the past two years, the Anna Lindh Foundation

has supported ‘A Mapping of Translation in the Euro-

Mediterranean Region’, a promising study involving a

large number of partner organizations, researchers and

translators, in collaboration with Transeuropéennes

(France). The project mobilized approximately 64 liter-

ary translators, publishers and researchers (doctoral and

postdoctoral) knowledgeable of the world of translation

and trained in comparative literature, human and social

sciences. Enhancing the debate on issues of common

concern with a specific focus on the topic of citizenship

and social cohesion is a pivotal aim of the Anna Lindh

Foundation’s translation programme. As a final step of

its programme on translation, the foundation organized a

Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Cairo on Translation

and Intercultural Dialogue.

Anna Lindh Mediterranean Forum

Every three years, the foundation gathers the region’s main

actors for intercultural dialogue, including CSOs, youth

leaders, policymakers and experts on cross-cultural issues,

in a forum.

The Anna Lindh Forum’s programme centres on two key

pillars: the ‘Agora’, dedicated to plenary debate and work-

shops with experts on the achievements and challenges of

social and cultural cooperation in the regional framework;

and the ‘Medina’, which brings together members of the

Anna Lindh Networks and regional partners to foster ideas

and build new partnerships and initiatives.

Two forums were created in this image, in Barcelona in

2010 and in Marseille, France in 2013. The latter mobilized

more than 3,500 civil society leaders during its prepara-

tion process, significantly increasing the participation from

the southern and eastern Mediterranean region. Taking

place in the aftermath of 2011’s Arab social uprisings, the

forum’s conclusions underlined the role of Mediterranean

cooperation in supporting civil society’s work for open and

Arts for social change has been a theme of the foundation’s capacity-building work since 2005, and it has organized a series of high-profile cultural events

Image: Abddallah Dawestashy

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