ROTA Leadership Training creates 'opportunities for youth, leaders for communities'

In Partnership with Msheireb Properties, the training offers a platform to inspire Qatar's 'next generation of youth leaders'

Doha, 10 October 2012

Encouraged by the success of its groundbreaking Youth Service Club initiative, Qatar's leading educational NGO Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) is giving 90 Qatar youth the opportunity to become the 'next generation youth leaders' as it hosts its sixth Youth Service Club Leadership Training course in partnership with Msheireb Properties.

The unique 4-day Leadership Training event at Education City from Wednesday 10th thru Saturday 13th October provides new and existing ROTA Youth Service Club (RYSC) members with an intensive programme of workshops, seminars and practical skills based sessions.

"RYSC Leadership Training is a difference maker, a creator of opportunities for youth and leaders for communities. At the end of Leadership Training, RYSC members will possess the skills, knowledge and abilities to go forward and change their communities for the better through ROTA Youth Service Club membership," says ROTA Executive Director Mr. Essa Al Mannai

Introducing new RYSC members to the ROTA Youth Development Program and its three themes of Leadership, Service Learning and Global Citizenship, RYSC Leadership Training empowers Club members with leadership skills, teamwork, project management and advocacy skills they need to run their own RYSC activities effectively.

New RYSC members in Group A will learn about ROTA and its Youth Development Framework on Day 1 and come to understand 'What makes a leader'. Service Learning, Project management and Action Planning feature on the Day 2 agenda, before delegates learn about Advocating for Local and Global Change and Understanding Global Citizenship Issues and advocacy on Day 3.

Existing RYSC members joining Group B will take part in a Day 1 discussion on RYSC Project Proposal improvements as well as learning about innovative projects. Day 2 concentrates on project management with a step-by-step guide to project implementation, case studies and tools. Day 3 sees delegates prepare for their RYSC presentation.

The final day of RYSC Leadership Training will see both groups join together for an outdoor project day at one of the natural Qatari farm . During the visit delegates will engage in team building, survival skills and experiential outdoor learning activities which provide an excellent opportunity for all RYSC members to bond. However the training will end at Msheireb Enrichment Center where participants will experience an interactive tour at MEC hosted by Msheireb Properties.

In addition to the its regular Youth Programme Learning themes, ROTA is launching an initiative to incorporate ROTA's four organisational themes - Sports, Environment, Arabic and Skills Development - as Leadership Training learning tools.

The 15 existing ROTA Youth Service Clubs have proved successful in identifying a need in their own community before planning and implementing an individual community service project. The Club select a mentor to work with, recruit volunteer YSC members to assist and then implement their project.

For the latest Reach Out To Asia Youth Service Club news, visit www.reachouttoasia.org or the ROTA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/reachouttoasia

-Ends-

About ROTA
Reach Out To Asia is a non-profit organization launched in December 2005 in Doha, Qatar, by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Operating under the auspices of the Qatar Foundation, ROTA is committed to providing high quality and relevant primary and secondary education, encouraging relationships among communities, creating safe learning environments and restoring education in crisis affected areas across Asia and around the world. ROTA envisions a world, where all young people have access to the education they need in order for them to realize their full potential and shape the development of their communities.

Further information on Reach Out To Asia can be found at www.reachouttoasia.org

About ROTA Youth Service Clubs
ROTA Youth Service Clubs (RYSC) are a network of self-directed, extracurricular youth service clubs. Each Club, supported by the ROTA Qatar program, provides a unique opportunity for young people in Qatar to develop leadership skills, gain understanding of international and community development issues as well as practical experience to carry out creative projects that address local and global issues.

About Qatar Foundation
Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest natural resource is its people. The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City. A fourteen million square-metre campus, Education City is home to numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of six of the world's leading universities, plus a cutting-edge science and technology park. Qatar Foundation also works to enhance the quality of life in Qatar by investing in 'Education, Science and Technology and Community Health and Development'.

About Msheireb Properties
Msheireb Properties is a real estate company and a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation. The company was established as a commercial venture to support the Foundation's aims, as well as the goals of Qatar's 2030 Vision.

Msheireb Properties' mission is to change the way people think about urban living and improve their overall quality of life, through innovations that encourage social interaction, respect for culture, and greater care for the environment.

Msheireb Properties spent three years researching Qatari architecture and numerous approaches to urban planning all over the world with the most respected experts in the industry - in order to realise an architectural language rooted in the best of the past that may be preserved for and by future generations.

The company name, Msheireb, means 'a place to drink water' and is the historical name of the downtown area of Doha. The company's corporate identity depicts the mouth of a stone well, a feature of traditional Gulf societies, and its distinct ink effect evokes classical Arabic calligraphy. Msheireb Properties recently achieved ISO certification from the British Standards Institution for quality (ISO 9001:2008), environmental performance (ISO 14001:2004), and occupational health and safety (BS OHSAS 18001:2007).

The company has also earned widespread industry recognition, including at the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards in Cannes, France. In May 2011 Msheireb Properties launched a dynamic research project with the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. This joint exercise will examine the potential for sustainable urban development in the Gulf and produce a shared intellectual resource, the Gulf Encyclopedia for Sustainable Urbanism, to encourage best practice.

© Press Release 2012