Mohammed bin Rashid attends Mansour bin Zayed’s session

Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attended a session by Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the World Government Summit 2017. In his session, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed announced the Arab Youth Strategy which represents the government's responsibility to assist the youth of the Arab World in achieving their ambitions. The session was in participation of Minister of State for Youth Affairs Shamma bint Suhail Al Mazrui and a host of young men and women from 22 Arab countries.

During the closing session of the World Government summit, Sheikh Mansour announced seven initiatives to empower the youth of the Arab World.

Present at the session were Dubai Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Federal National Council President of the Federal National Council Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior His Highness. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum HRH Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, the President of the World Government Summit Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi and a number of other sheikhs, ministers and officials.

The youth spoke of their strategic vision which revolves around ensuring safety, security, and health, both physically and psychologically so as to develop world-class educational institutions and spread knowledge across the region. The youth also highlighted initiatives that focus on empowerment, innovation, integration of people from all walks of life and celebrating youth.

Towards the end of the session, Sheikh Mansour announced seven initiatives that include a center that works directly with Arab Youth, led by young people and their vision across the region. The second initiative is the holding of the second Arab Youth Forum to give young Arabs with a platform for dialogue. The third initiative is to establish a youth opportunity platform for capacity-building programmes. The fourth initiative is the annual Arab Youth Report that sheds light on young citizens' dreams and aspirations. The fifth initiative focuses on student exchange programmes for Arab Youth to study at universities worldwide. The sixth  is to establish youth circles held across the entire Arab World, for 22 Arab countries. The seventh and last is a platform for Arab Youth to work on the economy and use crowdsourcing as a future model.

Prior to the announcement of the initiative, Sheikh Mansour pointed out to the big screen behind him where the number 108 million was displayed saying that this number represent the number of youth segment in the Arab World.

"This number is not the number of victims of war or the number of losses in the oil sector nor figures fluctuating in the stock market or number of terrorist attacks,” Sheikh Mansour said. “This number refers to the increase in the most important sector, which is the Arab youth." He further said that the government's focus on Arab youth goes years back when His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was appointed the youngest minister in the world. He repeated the same legacy with Shamma Al Mazrui who was named the Youth Minister last year at the age of 22.

Concluding his session, Sheikh Mansour pointed out that history will remember the achievements of the youth everywhere around the Arab World, whether through the solar power projects in Morocco, Expo 2020 in Dubai, the developmental projects in Egypt or the World Cup, which will be held in the Arab world. “Arab youth will create a better world for us”.