Mohamed Saleh (centre) explains the activities of Global Youth Consultation event along with some participants and other members of Rota. PICTURE: Jayan Orma
By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter
Reach Out to Asia (Rota), a member of Qatar Foundation, will host next month the first ever Global Youth Consultation for the United Nation’s World Humanitarian Summit (WHS). The first WHS will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in early 2016.
The details of the event were disclosed at a media interaction held at the headquarters of Rota yesterday. Mohamed Saleh, director, National Programmes Department, Rota, Mai Ali al- Zaman, National Programmes Department, Rota and several other officials of Rota were present on the occasion.
About 300 youth from 82 countries will participate in the event taking place in Doha on September 1-2. The consultation, meant for the youth between the ages of 18 and 30, will have 60 young men and women from Qatar.
Speaking about the event, Saleh, highlighted that Rota was chosen by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs to host the first-ever UN Global Youth Consultations owing to its tremendous efforts for the youth.
“The event will have a number of international speakers including some high profile ones whose names will be announced later. About 60 participants from Qatar have been selected for the event after a comprehensive process. Other than that over 1,200 people had applied and 240 had been shortlisted from 82 countries for the conference,” he said.
Al-Zaman, pointed out that four themes have been chosen for the consultation event.
“They are humanitarian effectiveness, serving the needs of people in conflict, transformation through innovation and reducing vulnerability and managing risks. Through the event, Rota aims to inspire greater action and involvement of youth in humanitarian issues as well as to reach agreement on key priorities for adolescents and youth in their reflections and consultations on humanitarian action.”
She also highlighted that the Qatar-based participants were selected by the members of the Youth Planning Committee who have been rigorously trained to interview delegates and empower their peers to take this event to new heights.
“The event aims to gain mass support for the youth commitments and share innovative youth-led initiatives and partnerships. This will provide a platform for the announcement of youth-oriented transformative projects. This will inspire greater action and involvement of Qatar-based youth in humanitarian issues and expose them to major global humanitarian issues and best possible ways to take actions,” she added.
Obadah Diab, a member the steering committee, and several other Qatar-based youth selected for the event also took part in the discussions.
