On 18 January 2015, the United Nations Secretary- General’s Special Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, participated in the MBC Hope award ceremony hosted by United Nations Volunteer Program (UNV) and MBC Group in Dubai, UAE.
The second annual MBC Hope Awards Ceremony honored the “Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future” project and MBC Hope’s “Doing Good” competition winners. The event celebrated the positive energy, creativity and community spirit of young volunteers honored for acting as the catalysts in fostering “Hope” in the Middle East North Africa Region.
“Despite the progress in education, the question remains about the quality of education in the region, especially in the presence of a youthful community that is capable of being leaders and entrepreneurs,” said the UN Youth Envoy, Ahmad Alhendawi during his remarks.
“All challenges are opportunities if they are treated as potential to create solutions; the real wealth lies in the existing knowledge of the youth, especially now that we are in dire need of talented youth in this day and age,” continued Alhendawi.
Alhendawi presented awards to 5 honourees of the “Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future” project in partnership with UN Volunteers. The winners included:
Zina El Nahel (Egypt), for her role in the activation of the education process by informal institutions and non-governmental organizations; Hadeel AbuSoufeh (Jordan), for her role in supporting social projects related to facilitate the lives of people with special needs; Amal Al Saqal (Yemen), for her role in stimulating the role of students in volunteer work renaissance and community building; Lamia Bazir (Morocco), for her role in supporting projects that deal with women’s empowerment and the development of their role in society; and Saifeddin Jlassi (Tunisia), for his role in the rehabilitation of young people in areas of arts and drama.
The “Doing Good” competition aims to “collectively share together the responsibility of sharpening the capacity of the youth, and elevate their potentials, while urging them to stimulate social responsibility within their daily lives” said Sam Barnett, MBC Group CEO. “Year after year, our strategic partnerships expand and widen, and our partnership with the UNV this year is yet another testimony”.
MBC Hope’s “Doing Good” competition awareded, Yasmin Mahmood Alhajery, for the project “a dignified life for each orphan” in Egypt; Dr. Mowafak Bin Saeed Hosah & Dr. Hassan Bin Abdu Oribi, for their project “community solutions for overweight and obesity in the Arab world”; Dana Abu Rahma & Jenan Dagher, from the documentary film “Tales of Love from Palestine”; and Habiba Mahmoud Abdelmallek & Ne’ma Mohammad Al Jawadi who won the award for defense against “Dawayer Studio” project, to recycle agricultural waste and eliminate the black cloud, in Egypt.
“The challenge remains in our ability to translate initiatives and sincere intentions into institutional work that is both sustainable and effective, contributing to the essence of “MBC Hope” and its underlying objective of spreading HOPE, whether that be in stimulating their creativity, uplifting their potentials or supporting entrepreneurship and social work” Barnett concluded.
“We need to involve entrepreneurs to find effective solutions to the problems afflicting key developmental issues in the Arab world” said Fadi Ghandour, CEO of ARAMEX and Founder & CEO of Ruwad.
Alhendawi reminded in person and broadcast attendees to “Never underestimate a young man with a dream, even if you bump into him at the coffee shop.”
Congratulations to all the award recipients for their great work.
Click here to watch Alhendawi’s interview in Arabic with MBC.