Emirates Foundation announces final pitching stage of Emirates Award for Arabian Gulf Youth 2019

UAE EDUCATION

ABU DHABI- Emirates Foundation today announced the final pitching stage for the 2019 Emirates Award for the Arabian Gulf Youth, EAAGY, as part of the foundation’s mission to encourage and mobilise youth across the GCC to become active participants in social development.

The EAAGY is an initiative launched in 2014 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Foundation.

The 14 shortlisted projects, consisting of individuals and teams from across the GCC, pitched their concepts to the judging panel comprising Dr. Adeeb Alafeefi, Director at the National Programme for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises; Dr. Saif Alshaali Executive Director – Social Incubator and Contracting Authority for Social Contributions (Ma’an); Nabra Al Busaidi, Executive Director of Young Arab Leaders; and Abdulla Al Shimmari, EAAGY second-place winner in 2017.

The top three teams will receive prizes of AED70,000, AED50,000, and AED25,000, respectively, as well as a one-year membership with waived fees on all services and the chance to attend national and international training programmes and exhibitions. In addition to this, they will also receive easy access to federal government tenders, and the privilege of setting up private office space for three months by the National Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises and Projects run by the Ministry of Economy. The award winners will also be trained and mentored by leading UAE based organisation, Young Arab Leaders.

Mohanna Al Mheiri, Chief of Staff at the Emirates Foundation, said, "We are witnessing a great deal of interest, especially among the youth, in the establishment of social enterprises because of their ability to deliver benefits in a self-sustaining way, as well as their ability to use revenue to address social causes and problems through unconventional approaches that neither the private nor public sectors have been able to do."

"Today, our main goal behind the Emirates Award is to create a social entrepreneurship mindset and empower the youth to take up creative innovative ventures which generate revenue using market?driven mechanisms to solve key and urgent social problems, while making a positive impact on society as a whole," Al-Mheiri said in conclusion.