Deputy PM launches platform for Arab youth

dubai – Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, has launched the ‘Arab Youth Opportunity Platform,’ the largest of its kind, featuring more than 2,000 opportunities for Arab youth in different specialisations.

“Supporting and empowering Arab youth is not an individual responsibility. It is rather a national responsibility that everyone should subscribe to,” Sheikh Mansour said following the launch of the platform. He urged governments to place youth welfare as a top priority and adopt innovate initiatives to prepare the youth for tomorrow’s opportunities and challenges.

“The platform provides a roadmap for the youth to identify the requirements of the job market and the opportunities it provides for them to realise their potentials and ambitions. It is also an important database for the concerned authorities to identify weaknesses in the opportunities available, and to develop plans and programmes to address them,” Sheikh Mansour said.

Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said: “This pioneering platform will also act as a melting point for the Arab youth to identify opportunities and to develop their capabilities in order to tap into the huge opportunities in the job market.”

The UAE allocates around Dh500,000 for scholarships in the Arab world, which currently has 100 business incubators, 300 development programmes, 150 awards and competitions, 200 scholarship programmes and 250 human development programmes.—