‘Arab summit organisers focusing on social media to reach youth’

AMMAN – This year’s Arab summit, to be hosted in Jordan between March 23 and 29, will be marked by two innovative aspects: increased efforts to reach out to the youth, and online presence giving Arab audiences the chance to preview the gathering’s activities, according to the event’s media committee.

The 2017 Arab summit — which will be held at the Dead Sea, some 60km southwest of Amman — will be focusing on a number of topics, providing a “unique” platform to work on the political, security, economic and social issues of concern to Arab citizens, according to the organisers. 

“What really makes this summit stand out is its openness to the public. For the first time in the Arab summit’s history, social media will be present in the hallways of the gathering with the utmost transparency,” a source from the media committee, who preferred anonymity, told The Jordan Times.

While security and political issues are usual features on Arab summits’ agenda, issues of unemployment and poverty facing young Arabs will also be tackled in the coming event, noted the source. 

“The problems of refugees and terrorism will also be addressed in the summit,” he added, noting that social media streams such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be used to raise awareness on the importance of the Arab summit, its history and the role of the Arab League. 

“There will be videos featuring testimonials from prominent Arab figures on the significance of the summit and on Jordan’s role in promoting joint Arab action,” the source explained. 

Information on political, archaeological and touristic issues in the Arab world will also be made available to the public. 

The coming summit is the fourth to be held in Jordan, with previous ones hosted in 1980, 1987 and 2001. 

According to the seventh Arab Social Media report, published earlier this year, Facebook has around 156 million users in the Arab world, while Twitter registers over 11 million active users in the region.

The summit’s official website (https://www.arabsummit2017.jo/) was launched in February.

The latest news on the regional event is also available on its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ArabSummit2017/) and its official Twitter account (https://twitter.com/ArabSummit2017).