MBC Hope and UNV program honor Arab youth

The U.N. Volunteers program and MBC Hope came together under one roof in Dubai on Sunday to honor and grant awards to the “Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future” project, and to MBC Hope’s “Doing Good” competition winners.

Ahmad Alhendawi, U.N. Secretary- General’s Special Envoy on Youth, awarded the five winners in the “Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future” project.

1. Zina El Nahel (Egypt): for her role in the activation of the education process by informal institutions and non-governmental organizations.

2. Hadeel AbuSoufeh (Jordan): for her role in supporting social projects related to facilitate the lives of people with special needs.

3. Amal Al Saqal (Yemen): for her role in stimulating the role of students in volunteer work renaissance and community building.

4. Lamia Bazir (Morocco): for her role in supporting projects that deal with women's empowerment and the development of their role in society.

5. Saifeddin Jlassi (Tunisia): for his role in the rehabilitation of young people in areas of arts and drama.

As for MBC Hope’s “Doing Good” competition, the humanitarian issues award went to Yasmin Mahmood Alhajery for her project "A dignified life for each orphan" in Egypt.

The Social Entrepreneurship and Start Up award went to Mowafak Bin Saeed Hosah and Hassan Bin Abdu Oribi, for their project “community solutions for overweight and obesity in the Arab world.”

The Innovation & Creativity award went to Dana Abu Rahma and Jenan Dagher, for the documentary film "Tales of Love from Palestine."

The Energy & Environment category award went to Habiba Mahmoud Abdelmallek and Ne’ma Mohammad Al Jawadi for defense against “Dawayer Studio” project, to recycle agricultural waste and eliminate the black cloud, in Egypt.

During the event Alhendawi stressed on the importance of quality education in the region saying: “All challenges are opportunities if they were treated to create solutions; but the real wealth lies in the existing knowledge of the youth, especially now that we are in dire need of talented youth in this day and age.”

Meanwhile, Sam Barnett, MBC Group CEO, said: “For the 2nd consecutive year, we meet under the umbrella of the “Doing Good” competition to collectively share together the responsibility of sharpening the capacity of the youth, and elevate their potentials, while urging them to stimulate social responsibility within their daily lives.”

Barnett added: “Year after year, our strategic partnerships expand and widen, and our partnership with the UNV this year is yet another testimony.”

Barnett concluded with: “The challenge remains in our ability to translate initiatives and sincere intentions into institutional work that is both sustainable and effective, contributing to the essence of “MBC Hope” and its underlying objective of spreading HOPE, whether that be in stimulating their creativity, uplifting their potentials or supporting entrepreneurship and social work.”