Swedish Institute Alexandria Hosts Two Conferences in Tunisia

The Swedish Institute Alexandria has been moving its conferences to Tunisia.

The first conference held in Tunisia hosted by the institute was “Revolution and Democratic Transition” which was held between February 6-9, 2012 the second was “Citizens for Peace and Justice” between February 10-12th.

The Swedish Institute Alexandria was co-founded in 1999 in Egypt by the Egyptian and the Swedish government aiming at bridging the gap between Europe and the Middle East and North Africa and to promote co-operation between European and North African countries. The institute facilitates national and international conferences dealing with specific topics.

The first conference was organized and sponsored by the Centre for Arab Unity Studies (Beirut) and the Swedish Institute Alexandria (SwedAlex). It will tackle the theme of “the Arab Spring,” its dimensions and its consequences in the region. It will also shed light on the future of the revolutions and the transitional process in countries that had uprisings.

The second conference will be organized by Youth Without Borders ( a Tunisian NGO) , Club UNESCO Association Bardo (Tunisian NGO) and sponsored by the Swedish Institute Alexandria (SwedAlex). Fourty-Five participants coming from Tunisia, Egypt, Sweden and Libya will be attending and contributing to the discussion.

Ahmed Zahran, a member of the Swedish Institute Alexandria, explained how the institute intended to organize their event in Tunisia. Their conference was not organized in Tunisia because of the recent problems with security and the unstable situation in Alexandria, Egypt.

The conferences dealt with controversial subjects touching the lives of citizens of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

“The meeting was astounding and very enriching since we could exchange thoughts talking about similar problems and challenges in Tunisian and Egypt such as dealing with Salafists, reforming the Ministry of Interior, and overall national insecurity,” he said.