Youth activism in Oran
In Oran, as in all other parts of Algeria, young people represent the largest part of society. Formerly called ‘Wahran Elbahia’ (Oran the Beautiful), the second-largest city in the country has seen the emergence of many new associations, as well as young individuals, who are focused on protecting the environment. The expression of a growing awareness of environmental issues, particularly among the youth, can be seen in people such as Lahouari Yahyaoui, the coordinator of the Environment Citizen Network. I was put in touch with Lahouari by a friend in London who was originally from Oran, and I spoke to him while conducting our fieldwork, in which we aim to interview around 150 associations and individuals involved in environmental concerns.
Passion for the environment
Lahouari is the kind of person who is so passionate about his belief in the importance of recycling, cleaning up the local environment and ridding his hometown, Oran, of pollution, that you could spend hours listening to him. He will take you through his journey, from being a young man in love with the many different areas of his city, to his involvement in an increasing number of small projects. These include creating eco-farms, joining groups cleaning up Oran’s beaches, teaching schoolchildren the importance of protecting the environment, and speaking out, using various media outlets, on how to ‘make Wahran “Bahia” again.’
Lahouari is an extremely busy young man. To conduct the interview, I had to catch him between meetings and the Euros football match in which England was playing.
The motivation to make Oran ‘greener and cleaner’ emerged during a meeting he attended on the protection of the environment at the regional government, the Wilaya of Oran. Although local policymakers appeared willing to support citizen initiatives, there was a lack of resources and training on the ground. This pushed Lahouari to build a mobile caravan which he and his friends could use to travel around the city, spreading the word about the need for environmental action and showing the way by tackling the clean-up of the streets and beaches themselves.
The Eco-Citizen Network also reaches out to schools in order to raise environmental awareness among children. Last but not least, the network is creating allotments in Oran and its surrounding areas to encourage and support local organic food production. Lahouari speaks with pride about the eco-farm in Misserghine, a very fertile region, around 20 miles south of Oran. This is particularly close to my heart as I attended boarding school in Misserghine, run by the Sisters of Trinity, who remained in Algeria after independence.
New ideas to promote recycling
In another interview, I was told by a young woman, also from Oran, that the city was the first in Algeria to introduce recycling bins, and that families are now very aware of the need to recycle household waste. Ali Sarri, a young business management graduate, also explained to me how he wants to introduce a way of recycling engine oils instead of dumping them in the sea. Youth in Algeria are being encouraged to suggest innovative ideas to the Algeria Start-up Fund (ASF), and it has already approved the young man’s draft project. He is expecting ASF to partly fund the project, which he thinks will not only protect the sea from used oils but will also create around 100 jobs in the short term, and many more in the long term. There is bureaucracy, he explains, but:
you need to believe in your idea and I am someone who likes challenges.”
Ali Sarri, Youth entrepreneur in Oran
At the time of writing, a new government has been appointed in Algeria. The new Prime Minister, himself a former Minister of Public Finance, has declared that he wants to support associations whose priority is the protection of the natural environment and the improvement of citizens’ living conditions. Lahouari and his team have welcomed this declaration with great enthusiasm. Their last weekend has been very busy cleaning beaches and parks. This all looks rather promising for a greener and cleaner Wahran.
