Jordan Times

DEAD SEA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday voiced support for the Young Arab Leaders (YAL) in their efforts to build better ties with their peers across the world.

In his opening remarks at the two-day second Annual Forum of Young Arab Leaders, the Monarch said, “One of the most important activities undertaken by the organisation is building bridges of trust among young Arab leaders and their counterparts in Asia, Europe and America.”
Such a mission can only be accomplished through “deep-rooted dialogue and enhanced cooperation tools,” the King said, adding that “this is a vital pursuit and it is necessary to continue with it, so that it engages the largest possible sector of the Arab youth.

“This initiative and others are of utmost importance, and I am personally ready to lend every support possible to them, whether at the Arab or international level,” King Abdullah, a member of YAL board himself, told hundreds of young Arab leaders representing 15 countries, who were joined at the opening ceremony by visiting Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In his speech, Erdogan highlighted the fact the Turkey and the Arab countries share the same challenges.

“I believe that today, our countries are coming to the forefront as elements of stability, security and prosperity in the Middle East region,” he said.

But tackling problems like international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, illegal immigration and organised crime, he said, needs an approach that has nothing to do with the old techniques such as those prevailing during the cold war.

“Our world has entered a new phase where old parameters have changed. We can no longer address today’s problems by those old parameters.”

Therefore, the Turkish premier said, “it becomes all the more important for us to develop cooperation and solidarity with the Arab world,” stressing that his country would continue to fulfil its moral and historical responsibilities to promote understanding among the various faiths and cultures.

The Dead Sea meeting is designed to ensure action-oriented results and guide the participants towards reaching practical solutions for the coming years.

The workings of the forum revolve around enhancing and developing the effectiveness of young Arab leaders to identify and address critical issues confronting the Arab world, especially those relating to education, leadership and economic development.

YAL Board Chairman Saeed Al Muntafiq called for joint efforts to prepare Arab youth to take leadership at the global level. He said the forum seeks to highlight success stories of young Arab men and women and promote these youths as models for the next generations.

Listing YAL achievements over the past eight months, he cited a September meeting in the US between 100 YAL members and a similar number of young Americans, resulting in the formation of the Arab American Action Forum.
Arab and American leaders agreed to over 20 joint projects designed to provide opportunities for Arab youth to prepare them for the global economy.

Muntafiq, 40, hopes to institutionalise efforts to offer better education opportunities to Arab youth during his term as chairman.

The CEO of Tatweer urban developer, a subsidiary of Dubai Holdings, said members of the organisation would individually support one or two university students, adding that the forum could make a difference if these initiatives were united.

Expressing his dissatisfaction with level of Arab youth development, Muntafiq said his organisation was mobilising all its potential to change this situation.

Omar Jazi, a co-founder of the Jordanian chapter of YAL, noted that although most participants came from a business background, they could still help in other fields, especially education and training.

Jazy, 37, a PhD holder from Kent University said, said his main concern is that YAL should not turn into an elite club and a venture for networking between rich Arab businessmen. Scholarships and support of business ideas for less privileged Arab students would help in that direction, he told The Jordan Times.

Participants seek to demonstrate the full range of ideas and assistance available from within the region’s private, public and civil society sectors towards positive change and identify significant synergies and areas of cooperation and exchange within the region, among other objectives.
YAL sees itself as “a network of Arab men and women who have seen the power of action in their own lives, reached unprecedented levels of success for their age, are positive and can see beyond today’s difficulties to that vision of a prosperous Arab future.”

YAL Palestinian chapter established

By Mahmoud Al Abed

DEAD SEA — The Young Arab Leaders (YAL) on Sunday announced that the Palestinian branch of the organisation was officially on board.

During its second annual meeting, which was opened by His Majesty King Abdullah yesterday, YAL Chairman Saeed Al Muntafiq described the establishment of the Palestinian chapter as one of the forum’s greatest achievements, “because the entire spirit of the organisation is about overcoming hurdles.” He said he hoped the Palestinian members would be able to make a difference in the lives of Palestinian youth.

Abdul Malik Jaber, the head of the Palestinian chapter, said despite the difficult conditions in the Palestinian territories, the organisation had established a fund to support students through providing them with scholarships and another to incubate technological ideas.

The Palestinian chapter is also reaching out to successful Palestinian youth in diaspora.

“There are very successful Palestinians all over the world, especially in South America, where they are leaders and senior executives in major companies,” Jaber said.

YAL’s Palestinian members are building database so they can mobilise expatriates, some of whom are third or fourth generation immigrants but still exhibit a sense of belonging to Palestine and are willing to help, he added.

A delegation from these countries was supposed to attend the forum, but their visit was postponed and they are expected to visit Jordan, the UAE and Palestine in March next year.

According to Jaber, contributions by organisations like YAL acquire more importance in the troubled Palestinian territories than that of their peers in stabilised countries.

“What we needed was an effective mechanism of work. Now we have it with YAL,” which applies best practices and good governance rules according to the book, he said.

The November 25-27 YAL forum at the Dead Sea seeks to be a platform upon which global and Arab leaders engage in dialogue over a wide variety of topics, including education, good governance, public-private sector partnership and development of the youth sector in general.

Monday, November 27, 2006