IBEI students assist to the II UfM Regional Forum
MEDITERRANEAN IN ACTION: YOUTH FOR STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT
A delegation of students and IBEI members assisted to the II UfM Regional Forum on January 23rd and 24th at the premises of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The Forum was presided by the Co-Presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean, assumed by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Ms. Federica Mogherini, and by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ayman Al Safadi. Here you can access to the Forum's programme.
The students were accompanied by some IBEI members such as Elisabeth Johansson Nogues, Research Fellow at IBEI and CIS Fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), or Héloïse Berkowitz, Postdoctoral fellow at École Polytechnique.
Assisting to the Forum was a very enriching experience for the IBEI students, and it was a great opportunity for them to get closer to the real International Relations world.
Below you can go through some students testimonials:
Sergio Cerron Lopez, coursing the Master's in International Relations at IBEI
Was your participation helpful/not helpful for you in terms of learning more about International Relations/Security/Development or the EU and the southern Mediterranean? Why/why not?
My participation was super interesting and I am truly happy I attended the conference. Most of the panelists had great interventions and the environment within there was very comfortable.
How was your meeting with the Secretary-General? Interesting, or not so? Why?
The final meeting was also very interesting. It was very nice to see that there are young people like me trying to work for developing and changing certain things.
Did you manage to network with other students or young professionals?
I managed to network with young people, with some young professionals, but I had also the chance to speak with experienced professional that I realised are just normal people like you and me.
Would you recommend other students to go to UfM Regional Forum next year, or similar events, during their MA year at the IBEI? Why?
I would definitely recommend everybody to attend this forum. However, I would also recommend to be ready to ask certain things to the people talking at the conference. It would help people a lot when it comes to ask or point some details out.
Cristina Sala i Soler, coursing the Master's in International Relations at IBEI
Was your participation helpful/not helpful for you in terms of learning more about International Relations/Security/Development or the EU and the southern Mediterranean? Why/why not?
Creo que fue una experiencia enriquecedora y que me aportó un nuevo punto de vista sobre las relaciones de la UE con otros países del Mediterráneo. Me resultó especialmente interesante escuchar las posiciones de personalidades de otros países de la región, como el Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Egipto, puesto que generalmente los medios de comunicación sólo muestran declaraciones de los ministros de la UE y, en cualquier caso, siempre se limitan a reproducir fragmentos que no nos permiten tener una idea global del discurso sobre Política Exterior y Relaciones Internacionales de los ministros de una y otra orilla del Mediterráneo.
Did you manage to network with other students or young professionals?
La verdad es que no tuve la oportunidad de hacer mucho networking, ya que sólo asistí a la sesión del día 23. Pero imagino que los paneles del día 24 hubieran sido una gran oportunidad para entrar en contacto con otros estudiantes y profesionales del mundo de las Relaciones Internacionales.
Would you recommend other students to go to UfM Regional Forum next year, or similar events, during their MA year at the IBEI? Why?
Creo que el UfM Regional Forum es una oportunidad excelente para aquellos estudiantes que, como yo, estén interesados en las relaciones de la UE con los países del Mediterráneo, puesto que te permite tener una visión "insider" de cuáles son las líneas estratégicas de la UE respecto a esta región y del estado actual de las relaciones entre los diferentes estados que la conforman. En general, pienso que la participación en este tipo de eventos es una parte fundamental de nuestra formación, sobre todo para los que, como yo, éste supone nuestro primer contacto con el mundo de las Relaciones Internacionales.
