Youth Skills
On the fifteenth of July every year, the world celebrates International Youth Skills Day, assuring everyone that young people are the builders of the future and that societies cannot make progress and secure prosperity and stability without paying attention to the participation of young people in all aspects of development.
Since antiquity, societies have dealt with young people as having unlimited capabilities and potential. Therefore they have focused on building and preparing them at an early age, believing that learning, training, and acquiring skills do not bear fruit unless they occur in the early years of young people's lives.
I am confident that investing in youth is one of the most critical factors and reasons for the success of sustainable development efforts. That is why governments, agencies, and organizations are making subsequent efforts according to the nature of economic, social, and environmental changes imposed and what they monitor for current and future challenges. They work to implement plans and programs which aim at providing education, training, and business opportunities to qualify them to be highly efficient and productive.
One of the most important indicators of the success of human development efforts is the presence of qualified youth who are fortified with multiple and diverse high skills that meet all the needs of the economic sectors.
Young people are a positive force in advancing the development process, and they are the ones who contribute to achieving its goals, thanks to the knowledge, sciences, and technical, professional, and scientific skills they have acquired.
The role of young people has become apparent in the shadow of the Corona pandemic, as their contributions were wonderful in all the tasks assigned to them. Their skills emerged wonderfully in addressing the pandemic. They raced to provide services in several locations and set examples to follow in voluntary work because they and their skills can better adapt to challenging circumstances and quickly overcome them.
Young people make the future; therefore, the stronger their knowledge, experience, and skill preparation, the more the societies can continue their progress. Therefore, when preparing development strategies, it is essential to prioritize young people and treat them as active agents at the heart of these strategies, not only as beneficiaries but also as participants in the development evaluation and achievement.
Here, I must commend the efforts of the UAE government, which has given youth skills a great deal of attention and prepared specialized institutes and colleges to upgrade young people's skills and make them an effective workforce in the development process. This is in addition to the attention given by many professional institutions, which is reflected in many pioneering initiatives in providing young people with specialized skills at the highest international standards.
Fatima Bint Mubarak
