YAL (UAE Chapter) announces partnership with leading international organization for youth development

According to this agreement Business for Diplomatic Action will coordinate with the world-famous think-tank, Zogby International, to conduct a comprehensive research of YAL (UAE Chapter) members and a cross-section of young Arabs within the UAE, to scientifically study and document young Arab ambitions and values to help launch youth development initiatives.

Saeed Al Muntafiq, Chairman of Young Arab Leaders (UAE Chapter) said, "We are always looking for new opportunities to support the Arab youth to enlarge their capabilities and strengthen their expertise. We chose Business for Diplomatic Action to help us in realizing this objective as it is the leading international organisation that is developing a range of initiatives with the private sector to build cross-cultural understanding and promote youth development."

Al Muntafiq added, "The purpose of the survey is to better understand the needs and aspirations of young Arab professionals and students so that we can better design specific programmes for internships, mentorships, scholarships and training that can be developed to further the careers of promising young Arab talent."

He said that the results of this survey will support our joint project with Business for Diplomatic Action as it will include the opinions and ideas of Arab youth on how the international companies can participate in Arab youth development.

"Building bridges and fostering the development of tomorrow's leaders is vitally important in the world we live in today. This research project is designed to help corporations better understand the values and aspirations of the young leaders of the Middle East and to design training programs that will contribute to youth development and education in the region," said John McNeel, Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the International Committee of Business for Diplomatic Action.

He added, "Business for Diplomatic Action is working with corporations in sectors ranging from energy to consumer goods to information technology to professional services. Therefore, our program is designed to bring the greatest possible benefit to a broad range of candidates."

Trained field workers from Zogby International will conduct face-to-face interviews of 200-250 young Arabs between the ages of 18 and 35. Approximately one quarter to one third of the interviews will be conducted in Arabic or English among YAL members.

The remainder of the interviews will be among those who are deemed to be potential future members of YAL (the next tier of leaders) and will include young professionals who have yet to achieve leadership positions within their companies, school students in grades 11 and 12, and university students across the UAE.

Questions will focus on, but not be limited to professional goals, personal goals and thoughts on how businesses can aid them in achievement of their goals. The survey script will be developed in conjunction with YAL (UAE Chapter) and BDA as co-sponsors of this project. The analysis will break out interviews by age and professional and educational level.

The target date to initiate the study is 15th March 2006 and the final report is likely to be submitted by the end of April, 2006.

YAL (UAE Chapter) is already in the process of entering into discussions about the internship opportunities. The goal would be to try to identify initially about two-dozen candidates who are university graduates or young professionals who would be available and willing to have training or internship opportunities with companies in U.S. and Europe in the fields of Energy, Information Technology, Consumer Goods, Retail, Professional Services and Media and Marketing.

For the younger candidates like high school graduates, proposals are being drawn up to develop a parallel programme of opportunities with global companies based in the Middle East.

The survey is sponsored by Pepsi Middle East and Exxon Mobile in line with their commitment to catalyze youth development programmes in the region.