JEDDAH, 10 February 2007 — A major program for the training, employment and guidance of young Saudi men and women will be launched shortly at the initiative of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).
“We will carry out this massive project with the support of the governorate, universities and schools,” said Dr. Mohammad Badahdah, WAMY’s assistant secretary-general for the Makkah region.
“We’ll give priority to education and training of Muslim youth,” he added. “Budget allocation for this purpose will be increased from 20 to 35 percent.”
WAMY has an annual budget of SR250 million and 90 percent of its revenues come from donations.
Speaking to Arab News, Badahdah said the program was aimed at engaging young men and women in constructive and community service activities and preventing them from being enticed by deviant groups.
“Recently we had a meeting with our partners to discuss the launch of the program, which is to take place within a couple of weeks,” he said.
A variety of manpower training and development programs as well as sports and entertainment activities will be held under the project, he said.
“We expect Saudi companies to join this project by sponsoring its various activities as it deals with a cent percent national issue,” said Badahdah, a consulting surgeon at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah, who took up the new post recently.
He said WAMY was spending SR3 million to develop programs of the project. “We are conducting a number of workshops and group discussions to finalize the programs,” he said.
The programs will be carried out not only during summer vacation but also in the afternoons, evenings and weekends to help young men and women make use of their spare time.
“A number of sports and entertainment programs will be organized to attract the youth,” he added. He said the project was designed in line with the summer-intensive outside class Japanese training programs. It will include computer training, development of skills and on-the-job training, he added.
“We will also train youth on how to carry out community service as we need their participation in such activities,” he said. “This is a big project and there is no limit for its activities,” he said, and noted the efforts of his predecessor Abdul Wahab Noorwali in developing it.
The project will be launched first in the Makkah region, targeting more than 100,000 students. It will be carried out later in other regions.
The assistant secretary-general said WAMY would carry out all its activities abroad in a transparent manner without giving any room for suspicion.
“We’ll establish good contacts with authorities in foreign countries and carry out all our activities through official channels,” he said.
Badahdah, a graduate of a university in Glasgow and in the medical profession for 24 years, said he loved to engage in charitable and Islamic activities.
“I consider my new post a good opportunity to serve the community,” he said.
