Youth will power UAE s progress: paper

ABU DHABI, 19th May, 2016 (WAM) -- Activating young people's voice for the benefit of public policy is critical in any country where young people make up a significant portion of the population, a UAE daily has said.

"The UAE leadership has clearly recognised that investing in youth is a key driver of economic progress and sustainable development," said the Khaleej Times in an editorial on Thursday.

The paper went on to say, "The creation of Emirates Foundation, which focuses on youth development, and more recently the appointment of Shamma bint Sohail Faris AlMazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, representing youth is a case in point. The intention is to listen to the youth and become a voice for them.

"Youth are critical for stimulating economic growth and development, for driving innovation and for creating a sustainable knowledge economy. In addition to providing an incredible platform for showcasing local Emirati talent and the amazing potential of this new generation, Expo 2020 is an excellent opportunity to build on the UAE's commitment to nurturing youth aspirations and energy by bringing a plethora of opportunities for personal and professional development.

"At Emirates Foundation, where youth development is at the core of our mission, we believe that including youth in the decision-making process is vital. Our role is to maximise the potential of young Emiratis by helping them to navigate the challenges of the 21st century and seize the opportunities of this fast changing world. We aim to guide, inspire and empower youth since they are the change agents of today and the leaders of tomorrow. Our work over the past 10 years, dovetails very well with the mission and vision of Expo 2020 and we are proud to partner with this initiative. Emirates Foundation can support Expo 2020's Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, by bringing a nationwide platform of Emirati talent to engage with the event.

"We have worked with over 60,000 youth in the UAE since our establishment over 10 years ago. Each one of our six programmes responds to a challenge facing young people and provides a skill set that can be easily deployed in Expo 2020.

"We have two volunteering programmes, Takatof and Sanid, through which we offer youth meaningful opportunities to become engaged citizens providing public service. Over 30,000 volunteers are registered in these. We will tap into this pool to mobilise youth volunteers to support Expo2020, giving them the opportunity to engage on an international platform.

"And since we strongly believe that youth are intrinsically better placed to understand and support sustainability and believe in social purpose, our Kafa'at programme delivers leadership training and has created a pool of future senior decision-makers who will benefit enormously from Expo 2020's enterprise systems and support for SMEs.

"Our Esref Sah programme educates youth on how to manage their personal finances, which will support them when engaging with the financial sector and empower them for future prosperity by helping them build assets rather than liabilities. Already Esref Sah has 50 young Emiratis trained and signed up as peer mentors and part of our Shabbab Club. All of these will support Expo 2020.

"At Emirates Foundation we are very inspired by Expo 2020. It fits very well with our core remit of changing the lives of young people in the UAE permanently and positively. It provides an amazing volunteering platform for our trained volunteers to show their capabilities as engaged citizens and bring Emirati identity and ambition to a truly global platform. I am proud to be part of this superb endeavour and offer up all of the assets of Emirates Foundation to support the UAE in its journey."