Tunisian-born, Yassine Labidi is the current head of the programmes department for Islamic Relief South Africa with his duties being management, monitoring, evaluation, coordinating and heading the organisation’s humanitarian programmes. He relocated to South Africa with his wife and child and has a home in Cape Town but due to his position, he has made his home all around the country, overseeing projects and helping Islamic Relief implement major projects in the region. The Springfield Weekly Gazette invited Labidi for an on the couch session to get to know him better.
Springfield Weekly Gazette (SWG):
You have travelled the world working on various projects, and have especially been involved with projects aligned to youth development and education. When did your passion for such programmes start and what inspired it or is the motivation behind your passion towards youth development?
Yassine Labidi (YL):
I had high-level commitments with international stakeholders from a range of cultures and backgrounds that I havevisited to participate in seminars and international conferences, in the United States, Europe (Malta, France, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain), Asia (Turkey, the Philippines, Japan, Qatar) and Africa (Tunisia, Chad, and South Africa). I managed FLOW (Future Leaders of the World) Citizenship project focusing on opportunities in decision making in the society. The project is set up to facilitate a tight partnership between youth Danes and Tunisians who engage themselves as active citizens in their surroundings. The overall project was funded by Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd (DUF –Danish Youth Council). This experience has shaped my passion towards youth development. Over the course of the project, the teams applied their skills towards the implementation of existing youth policies and later expanded to create global knowledge networks for youth development.
SWG: As the head of Islamic Relief South Africa, describe your typical day at work.
YL: A typical day at work involves attending and organising meetings, managing varieties of proposals for local and international projects. It is also important to have fun at work, I take a few minutes every day to get up and walk around. If you enjoy what you do, even the longest days don’t seem so rough!
SWG: What relief programmes have
you recently coordinated and where? Which of these stand out most for you and why?
YL: My career is shaped around initiatives for refugees and asylum seekers. My meeting with humanitarian activists in refugee camps, near the border with Tunisia and Libya, Turkey and Syria, Sudan and Chad, showed me the way to mobilise the international interest for the refugee population, asylum seekers, and immigrants. It is a very rewarding experience in respecting and promoting human rights.
SWG: As a husband and father, when do you get time to be with your family, as your position requires you to be travelling and overseeing projects locally and internationally?
YL: All is about time management and the “quality” of the time. I always make the most of time that I have with my family.
SWG: If you are not at work, what do you do to relax and unwind?
YL: I love to be with my family traveling, eating out, or watching a movie at home. I enjoy reading and broadening my knowledge in many different areas.
SWG: If you could list three things closest to your heart what would they be?
YL: Family, seeing the impact of my work that changes people’s lives and travelling opens all of our eyes to the naiveties and makes us appreciate how wonderfully diverse the world is.
SWG: Of the many countries you have lived and worked in, which country has been your favourite and why?
YL: It is also important to recognise that each country – I have visited – is unique. Africa is huge, it’s a vast continent that’s so varied and filled with a melting pot of cultures, identities, beautiful nature and history. South Africa is a country that seems to have it all. Cosmopolitan cities like Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, the incredible Kruger National Park and even its own penguin beach.
SWG: As a traveller, which part of the world do you still want to travel to and explore, not for work but for pleasure?
YL: I still want to explore part of the world’s largest and most populous continent which is Asia. I want to travel to some South Asian countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Maldives which are well-known for their impressive cultural heritage, diversity and natural beauty.
SWG: If you were given an opportunity to meet and spend a day with one person living or dead, who would you choose and why?
YL: I wish that I were given an opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela, one of the great moral and political leaders of our time and an international hero who dedicated his life to fight against racism and to advocate for human rights and equality in South Africa. He was instrumental in moving the nation toward multi-racial government. One of his sayings that inspires me is: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.
SWG: Having experienced all that you have in life, and having been a witness to tragedy throughout the world, if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
YL: Failure and mistakes are essential for your learning, journey and success. Without breakups you would have never met someone new and without pain you would have never grown. Everything comes in to serve a purpose, everything happens for a reason. You should not dwell on disappointments or view unfortunate events as regrets. But rather you should see them as opportunities in disguise.
Choose one:
• Desert or an Island… island
• Salad or pudding… salad
• Watching TV or reading… both
• Coffee or tea… tea
