DATE : 16-17 June 2023 / Symposium / Amman in Jordan

Symposium on the Future of Young People in the Middle East, organized by the Œuvre d’Orient

L’Œuvre d’Orient launched the “Colloque des Ecoles catholiques francophones du Moyen-Orient” in 2014. Its objective is to mobilize the various actors of Catholic education to exchange on the educational and social issues that represent the preservation of this unique network of institutions. The previous sessions, in Paris in 2014 and 2016, and in Beirut in 2018, brought together several hundred actors to assess the current situation and the needs and prospects for the future.

Continuing its line of effort, the Œuvre d’Orient plans to organize the next symposium in Amman, Jordan, on the dates of 16-17 June 2023, on the theme of “the future of young people in the Middle East”.

The excellence of Catholic schools is well established: their students receive a high level of training and learn to respect religious differences. Thus armed to continue their studies, many go abroad, and many are tempted to settle there afterwards. We cannot simply see the exodus of young people. Despite the undeniable economic and social difficulties experienced by the countries of the Middle East, the social and political role of these new generations formed in Catholic schools is essential. How can we contribute to the future of young people in the Middle East? How can we make life projects in this part of the world attractive to young people? How, when you start your studies, then consider living in the East?

The question of the future of young people in the Middle East primarily concerns French Catholic schools. What life projects do they share with students? How can they prepare their journeys in order to contribute to the construction of fairer and more equitable societies?

After a series of interventions by various personalities, mostly from various educational backgrounds in France and the Middle East, the colloquium should make it possible to hear the testimonies of young people who, after attending Catholic schools, continued their studies and then returned to their country.

Following these presentations, several workshops will focus on specific themes that remain to be specified, such as the risk of encouraging young people to go to universities abroad, or how French Catholic schools can prepare students for their future life in their country.