He said: “Prince Salman, since he was Riyadh governor, has been supportive of young people for a better tomorrow with special care and limitless support provided by the state under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and interior minister."
He expected the forum to have a good impact on youth’s work in the region, adding that the support of the defense minister to the forum was part of the pioneering role played by him and his efforts in supporting all young people to serve the Gulf.
According to the organizers, the forum is aimed at young leaders — both boys and girls students of age 15-19 years representing Gulf states — and those working in the field of youth leaders and the students' parents.
The second edition of the forum, especially after what has been achieved in the first edition in terms of its success and excellence, is to complement the process of refinement of young leaders. Special needs, or disabled children will be participating in the events and will submit working papers and engage in dialogue with their counterparts from other Gulf countries. This would enable them to appreciate the importance of the event and benefit through their interaction with others.
On his part, the general manager of schools and president of the organizing committee of the forum, Abdurrahman Al-Ghofaili, said that 300 students will participate in this year's forum. They were carefully selected from different regions of the Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, in addition to the participation of a group of experts and specialists.
He said the forum will discuss 32 papers on research and studies in leadership. It will also showcase a number of lectures, seminars, panel discussions and training workshops, in addition to a competition.
Al-Ghofaili pointed out that the forum seeks to achieve a number of objectives that promote a culture of building leaders among individuals and institutions in society, and the development of leadership skills among young people in secondary areas of social service and volunteerism.
This, according to him, will also create the appropriate environment for young people to discuss the challenges facing the leadership and their future vision. The idea behind the forum is to stimulate the participation of youth to undertake initiatives that contribute to the outstanding investment potential.
This year's forum includes topics under three main themes. The first will discuss opportunities and challenges in producing young leaders in the GCC states, by focusing on the role of the media, as well as information and communications technology in molding young leaders. It will also highlight the importance of igniting their ambition and self-confidence in becoming a distinguished leader.
The second theme will deal with the role of society and its institutions in support of the leadership programs through the promotion of a culture of education leadership in the family and approach of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in education leadership. This will also include the curriculum and extracurricular activities and their role in the development of leadership skills for young people. It will also focus on the experience of regional and global forums in evolving application programs that support the refinement and highlight the skills of leadership in the young.
The third theme will be on voluntary work and its impact in the refinement of leadership skills and enrich the experiences of leadership among young people, the positive effects of the involvement of youth leaders in voluntary work, rehabilitation programs and training for creating leaders.
It will also include spreading the culture of volunteerism among young people through the media, curricula, voluntary organizations, obstacles to participation of the youth leaders in voluntary work, and initiatives proposed for voluntary projects suitable for the youth and a review of models of successful Gulf youth voluntary programs.
According to the organizers, the highlight of this year's forum is its selection of speakers. The first session on (leader under the microscope) will be addressed by Hayat Sindi, the first Arab woman who obtained a Ph.D. in the field of biotechnology, and holds many awards including Makkah award and an honorary membership of the Royal College. She also obtained Scientific Award for securing first place in the competition for the action plans of University of Harvard.
Mohammed Thuwaini will be the speaker in the second session on "The Gulf youth leadership and the opportunities and challenges," while Najeeb Al-Zamil, member of the Shoura Council, will talk on (volunteerism and its impact in shaping the skills of the leader).
Among other speakers are Michael Costigan, the leader of a successful business and the youngest chief executive in the US. Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Areefi, a Saudi preacher and a faculty member at King Saud University, and Osama Al Ali, assistant professor of technology management at the University of Arabian Gulf.
