The PEACE REVOLUTION MENA Salam Fellowship will take place in Turkey, 13-17 March 2015. The leitmotif of this second edition? MENA Salam Fellowship: Towards a New Peaceful Coexistence. 40 young leaders from Middle East and North Africa will gather to inspire each other and exchange best practices on building a sustainable peaceful coexistence in the MENA region.

After the Arab Spring, and all revolutions, tensions in the region began to rise. On this background of instability, PEACE REVOLUTION launched a new fellowship exclusively dedicated to the MENA Youth. The fellowship invites young people from all corners of the MENA region to participate to a cultivating inner peace retreat. During the 5 days mindfulness and meditation event, participants will take part in activities designed to help them find common ground for achieving a long wished for goal: building sustainable peace in MENA.

Peace cannot be achieved only through mediation, negotiation and by bringing peacebuilding forces in conflict areas. Sustainable peace is cultivated at the intersection of inner peace and outer peace, otherwise defined as societal and environmental peace. The fellowship provides self-development tools that participants can use to cultivate inner peace. When at peace, creating the space for other people’s rights, beliefs and choices, comes naturally. A peaceful coexistence translates into resolving disagreements in nonviolent ways or transforming them in opportunities for learning and for personal growth. To be able to change the nature of the relations we build with the people around us, we firstly need to change ourselves.

516 young leaders from 37 countries applied to the second edition of the MENA SALAM Fellowship. The large interest for the fellowship shows a desire to find the adequate and continuous solution to put an end to the conflict and start building the peaceful society we all aspire to.

In exclusivity for the MENA SALAM II Fellowship, PEACE REVOLUTION introduced Practical Leadership and Coexistence workshops. Designing these workshops was essential to provide participants with the appropriate tools to spread their inner peace inside their communities. PEACE REVOLUTION views meditation and self-development as a basis for the creation of a space of peace and coexistence in the MENA region. Together with our partners, our goal is to make a change in the way we perceive coexistence in MENA and promote diversity through intercultural dialogue. Stay up to date with the MENA Salam Fellowship on Facebook.