Society: education and social justice Though civil society has suffered enormously in the political backlash of the last few years, here too there were signs of optimism: as Maryam Jamshidi put it, “this is a phase”. UAE-based writer Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi reminded us that the much vaunted explosion of social media worldwide has been different in its scale and implications for the Arab world: the number of internet users jumped from around 24 million (7 or 8% of the population) in 2006 to 135 million by December 2013; even since 2010, Facebook has gone from having 12 million users in the region to over 85 million today. Although he noted that online activism had been dampened since the “honeymoon period” of 2006-2011 by the fragmentation of online communities and harsh crackdowns by the authorities in several countries, it was clear that the numbers still represented a significant change, one that may be temporarily suspended but not reversed. Jamshidi described a similar pattern in what she terms “civic entrepreneurship” (any “citizen-driven effort to mobilise communities to respond to opportunities or crises in order to move the collective good forward”). Though many grassroots efforts have now been blocked or forced underground, they do persist, and must be supported by the most creative means available. For Filippo Grandi, former Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the need for an imaginative approach to education seemed equally urgent: he sees a worrying tendency to focus on rote learning and discourage critical thinking. He called for investment in education from primary level onwards, and a serious effort to help young people participate in their own development. 18 Speakers: Filippo Grandi - Former Commissioner General UNRWA Basma Al Husseiny - Founder Culture Resource Maryam Jamshidi - Founder of Muftah.org Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi - Political and Cultural Commentator on Arab Affairs Moderator: Lyse Doucet - Chief International Correspondent BBC
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