(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Participants of the Doha Youth Forum on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, beginning tomorrow, have expressed optimism that the event will further help in raising awareness on the important role the youth play in the development of their own countries.
Organisers are currently completing final preparations for the three-day event to ensure that students' voices will be brought to the forefront at the forum.
Qatar Foundation received 185 applications from students at universities across Qatar. The forum, considered as the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East, precedes the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice set in Doha from April 12 to 19.
Some 124 Qatari and international participants have been selected mainly between the ages of 16 and 26 for the Doha Youth Forum.
Mohamed al-Shahrani, a Business Administration student at the College of the North Atlantic€Qatar, lauded the holding of the forum saying it will provide a great opportunity for students to explore new issues like crime around the world.
"It is rewarding being able to work together to discover new ideas, and learn more about the work undertaken by the United Nations," he said.
Asked what he hopes to gain from the experience, he said he is looking forward to develop his abilities in public-speaking and communication skills. He also wants to meet other people from different backgrounds.
Al-Bandari Sultan al-Abdulla from the Community College of Qatar, another participant, said that she is participating because the forum's subject matter is closely related to her field of study.
"I have taken part in Qatar Debates' activities in the past, and I applied to join the Doha Youth Forum because it is a constructive Qatari initiative for young people, providing an important opportunity to gain experience," she said.
Al-Abdulla added that she benefited from orientation sessions that were organised by QF to support the students' involvement in the event and maximise the benefits of attendance.
These sessions provided her with the opportunity to discuss and explore the forum's themes in advance and allowed her to be better prepared for the event.
Acquiring experience and honing new skills was also the motivation for Mariam al-Nasr. An employee of the Communications Department at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, she is looking forward to act as a role model to young Qatari women by taking part in the forum.
"In the preparatory sessions, we met with the organising committee and the panel of teachers. This was followed by a meeting about the SharePoint platform, which allows us to communicate with each other as well as the teachers," she said.
In addition, al-Nasr noted that there were orientation meetings that gave them a background about the law and crime in general.
"I had the opportunity to look at criminal justice issues and problems that are present in other societies but that do not necessarily occur in Qatar," she said. "And I learned about the interaction between the law and politics abroad. I was able to improve my research and information gathering skills, as we were instructed to put together five proposals in preparation for the UN Congress."
Hala Abu Saad, who is pursuing her degree in Educational Leadership and University and College Management at Qatar University, said that the forum's subject matter was important because violent crime was on the rise around the world.
"Everyone should have a role, however small, in combating such issues in society. I am a mother of two girls and I feel that this issue is a priority for me because it is important to know how to deal with violence and crime in the world. This will help me prepare my daughters for dealing with this problem when they grow up," she stressed.
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