Shamma Al Mazrouei: Joint efforts to enhance national awareness and involve youth in shaping policies, assuming responsibility and decision-making

• Tariq Hilal Lootah: The cooperation aims to provide innovative mechanisms and tools to build youth capacities, actively contribute to the community, listen to them, and employ their visions in developing plans and projects.
• Saeed Al Nazari: We will work to develop the youth capabilities to contribute to the parliamentary work as influential partners in the comprehensive development process.

The Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MFNCA) announced a partnership with the Federal Youth Authority (FYA), in line with the UAE Government’s directives and strategies to strengthen partnerships between federal government entities to ensure the best interest of the country and its citizens.

The partnership will develop and implement a series of initiatives and projects aimed at consolidating political awareness amongst youth, and enticing contributions to parliamentary work, employing their proposals and jointly setting future and development plans with the youth.

An integrated action plan has  set multiple short- and long-term goals to ensure the highest level of youth participation according to the UAE’s youth empowerment and engagement model under the National Youth Strategy and the UAE Centennial Plan 2071.

The partnership  was announced in the presence of Her Excellency Shamma Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, H.E. Tariq Hilal Lootah, Undersecretary, MFNCA, H.E. Saeed Al Nazari, Director General, FYA, and H.E. Sami Mohammed bin Adi, Assistant Undersecretary for Support Services at the MFNCA, in addition to a number of directors and officials from both parties.

H.E. Shamma bint Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said that the National Youth Agenda, according to the UAE’s youth empowerment and engagement model, defined a range of development sectors in accordance with the UAE Centennial Plan 2071.

“In this context, I affirm our keenness to work under the directives of His Highness President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to invest in the energies of young people and direct them towards development, especially political participation through parliamentary work, which has a pioneering and rich experience since the establishment of the Union, and also involve active youth participation in decision-making and shouldering responsibility,” she said.

Her Excellency added that the cooperation of the Federal Youth Authority with the efforts of the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs will enhance participation of youth in parliamentary work, which contributes to achieving the goals set by the state, distinctively positioning the UAE nationally and internationally by implementing qualitative initiatives that enable young people to participate in parliamentary work over the next fifty years.

H.E. Tariq Hilal Lootah stressed the importance of this partnership in promoting the culture of political participation, shedding light on parliamentary life in the UAE, and raising parliamentary awareness among the youth, in line with the directives of the UAE’s wise leadership to empower this group using innovative processes, in addition to providing them with the tools they need to enhance their role in society, strengthen their ability to contribute to decision-making and nation-building, and enable them to play a part in advancing the UAE’s position towards more excellence and leadership, in the lead-up to the UAE Centennial.

H.E. underlined the Ministry’s commitment to building strategic partnerships with government entities around the country to achieve its goals, promote a culture of political participation among the youth, and invest in their potential, which, in turn, supports the Ministry’s own activities. He added that the youth are a pillar in all plans for political advancement and in efforts to drive parliamentary development across the UAE, and they are a key element in ensuring the success and preservation of the UAE’s track record of achievements,

Director General of the Federal Youth Authority, H.E. Saeed Al Nazari, said that youth have played a prominent role in the Federal National Council since its establishment, and the vision of the UAE’s wise leadership contributed to the youth having an influential voice in the Council.

He emphasised the importance of the agreement to develop youth capabilities, qualifying them to be influential partners in the comprehensive development process, as the Emirati parliamentary experience is inspiring and an opportunity for young people to participate in and use their tools to activate their role and refine their skills.

“We seek for young people to be able to participate effectively in designing policies and define a role to develop solutions, and we will make sure to adopt talents and build capacities to form a deeper understanding of the parliamentary experience in the country,” he said.

The cooperation includes the development of specialized studies on youth interests and the professional and cultural needs in political participation, as well as their role in spreading political awareness in society, issuing awareness brochures on political participation and its impact, and seeking the assistance of those interested in participating in the organization of the Federal National Council elections.

The two parties also agreed to form an executive working group to supervise the work plan according to the timeframes set and performance indicators to measure outputs and effectiveness.