6. German-Arab Journalism-Academy ended successfully

International Team creates multimedia Online-portal

For the 6th time the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Regional Program-Gulf-States brought together German and Arab junior journalists for a 10-day-academy-training. But it was the first time ever that the international team created a multimedia online-portal. And the experiment turned out successfully. The ten day academy ended on October 27th, 2011. Thomas Birringer, KAS Regional Representative to the Gulf-States, presented the participants with their graduation certificates and thanked them for their work and efforts.

The future of the Arab world: "Dialogue is the Way!"

DR. GUNTER MULACK, AMBASSADOR (RET.) AND DIRECTOR OF THE GERMAN ORIENT INSTITUTE, CALLS FOR REFORMS IN THE REGION

A dialogue between the government and the opposition, between the "old guard" and the young generation, is what the region needs, said Ambassador (ret.) and Director of the German Orient Institute, Dr. Gunter Mulack during the "German Week" in Kuwait. As a guest of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Regional Program Gulf-States, Dr. Mulack held the keynote speech on German-Kuwaiti relations and a lecture on recent developments in the Arab world.

Energieeffzienz in Abu Dhabi – Noch viel zu tun

“Die beste erneuerbare Energie ist die, die man am Ende nicht braucht.” Mit diesem Tenor endete die Roundtable-Diskussion zum Thema Energieeffizienz. Zusammen mit der Environment Agency Abu Dhabi und der Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit hatte das Regionalprogramm Golf-Staaten der KAS Vertreter von Energie- und Umweltbehörden sowie Städteplaner aus Abu Dhabi eingeladen, die im Austausch mit deutschen Experten Lösungen für den immens hohen Energiekonsum der VAE diskutierten.

Stronger political awareness

Elected members of the Federal National Council discuss their role publically for the first time in UAE history

Late September almost 130.000 Emiratis were called to the ballot box to cast their vote for the 20 candidates to be elected to the Federal National Council (FNC). This was only the second time that elections were held in the UAE. How significant they were for the country was topic of discussion at a conference jointly organized by KAS Regional Program Gulf-States and Zayed University on October 20th 2011. Newly elected FNC candidates, well-known Emirati commentators, and campaign communication experts analyzed the media coverage as well as the election process in two separate panels.

6. German -Arab Journalists’ Academy

Following the great success of the previous German-Arab Journalists’-academy KAS decided to invite once more young journalists from Germany and the Arab world. The 6th academy of the series takes a slightly different approach: for the first time the participants in the UAE will work with multimedia. The 20 participants will jointly create a German-Arab webpage on the new developments in the UAE.

Female Entrepreneurs needed

Workshop "Females as Entrepreneurs" targets future female entrepreneurs

„The chances for a young woman to work have always been better in United Arab Emirates (UAE) than in any other Arab State,” stated Emirati State Minister Dr. Maitha Al Shamsi, in her opening remarks to the workshop „Females as Entrepreneurs – How to overcome the obstacles.“

Konrad Adenauer meets Scheich Zayed

Presentation from the regional program Gulf-States during the first "German Day" of the UAE University in Al Ain

On October 3rd 2011, the first “German Day” took place on the female campus of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). In cooperation with the DAAD, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and the Goethe-Institut, the KAS Regional Program Gulf-States had the opportunity to present its work in the Gulf region to the students of the UAEU. The highlight of the day was a presentation about Konrad Adenauer and Sheikh Zayed that attracted the German and the Emirati audience in the same way.

A Generation in the Waithood –

Youth without perspectives as a catalyst of the “Arab Spring”

“Without the perspective of having a job, the youth of the Arab countries are not motivated to leave their parents’ homes, let alone to set up their own families. This leads to a young generation that is in the situation of waithood, waiting for a better future”, claimed Justin Sykes, manager for social innovations at the Qatari Think Tank Silatech at the beginning of his lecture on “Entrepreneurship as Social Policy”.

Nahe am Abgrund

Im Jemen droht nach der „Arabellion“ ein Bürgerkrieg – Al-Kaida nutzt chaotische Lage aus.

Ein arabischer Staatnach dem anderen schüttelt seineautokratischen Regenten ab. Wasdanach kommt ist ungewiss. ImJemen ist der Machtkampf zwischenaufgebrachten Bürgern undder autoritären Regierung nochvoll im Gange.

Katalysator arabische Halbinsel

Thomas Birringer über die Hintergründe und Auswirkungen der Arabellion

Thomas Birringer, Leiter des KAS-Auslandsbüros in Abu Dhabi, hat sich in einem Interview mit dem rbb Inforadio zu den Auswirkungen der Umbrüche in Tunesien und Ägypten auf die arabische Halbinsel geäußert.