Skip to main content
Article

The Wilson Center Announces Agents of Change Youth Fellowship Class

The Wilson Center announced the 2023 Agents of Change Youth Fellowship (ACYF) class members, which includes climate and environmental advocates and leaders from across the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Wilson Center announced the 2023 Agents of Change Youth Fellowship (ACYF) class members today, which includes climate and environmental advocates and leaders from across the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.

A partnership led by the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program and Environmental Change and Security Program, the fellowship is an opportunity to recognize and amplify the significance of the MENA region when it comes to climate response and the potential for youth leadership in the region to shape a more sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous future for the world.

This fellowship is being launched with support from the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C.

“MENA is a predominately youthful region which presents challenges in the workforce, for example, but also brings opportunities for change as youth take initiative to address the challenges their countries and societies face. Exercising leadership and enabling youth to innovate, experiment and learn is at the core of the Agents of Change Youth Fellowship. I look forward to working with the 2023 class in the coming year. I’m inspired by the work they’re already doing in climate change, peace and security in MENA and am confident this fellowship will equip them with new tools to continue their journeys,” said Merissa Khurma, Program Director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. 

“Growing recognition of how climate change is increasingly shaping matters of peace and security demands a new class of leadership that is grounded in diverse perspectives and experiences and shares an evidence-based approach to assessing and responding to risk. I am delighted to welcome this first class of ACYF fellows, who bring their own extraordinary expertise to the fellowship. The MENA region stands on the frontlines of climate’s impacts—we welcome this opportunity to help prepare emerging leaders in the region to take on the defining challenge of this century,” said Lauren Risi, Program Director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center.  

The 2023 confirmed Agents of Change Youth Fellows are:

Khalil Abu Allan, Palestine, Faculty Member, Hebron University, West Bank

Abdullah J. Alfayadh, Iraq, Program Coordinator, United Nation’s Iraq Mission

Josiane Atallah, Lebanon, Senior Partnership Officer, International Rescue Committee

Nour Barakeh, Syria

Adina Halevi, Israel, Environmental Consultant at EcologyWise; Transboundary Water Management Researcher, The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies

Eslam A. Hassanein, Egypt, Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Politics and Economics, Beni Suef University

Jezia Labidi, Tunisia, Project Specialist, Tunisia, Center for Middle East and North Africa, United States Institute of Peace

Hamza Saidi, Morocco, Project Coordinator, Regional Program on Energy Security and Climate Change Middle East and North Africa, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Rabat

Gokce Sencan, Turkey

Neeshad Shafi, Qatar, Co-Founder, Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar

Related Programs

Middle East Program

The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform U.S. foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  Read more

Environmental Change and Security Program

The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.  Read more