Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani opens EMPOWER 2015

Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Chairperson HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani on Thursday opened the seventh edition of the annual youth conference on personal leadership (EMPOWER 2015).
The three-day event is being held at the student center of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). HE Minister of Youth and Sports Salah bin Ghanim Al-Ali attended the opening along with vice president of the Women and Democracy Association (Kadem) Sumeyye Erdogan, ROTA board member HE Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh Al-Thani, and a number of Qatar Foundation officials.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sheikha Mayassa said youth chose peace to be the main driving force of the event as the world is becoming a small global village where what happens in one country affects the others. "For the seventh consecutive year, we are proud to launch EMPOWER. It is a conference organized and owned by youth and is being introduced to youth. It focuses on three main pillars: personal leadership, service learning and global citizenship. The young people taking part in the conference have chosen peace to be their message for EMPOWER 2015, to enhance and promote peace ethics and values among their peers around the globe, particularly for those whose hopes and dreams are affected by conflict and war. I can proudly say EMPOWER 2015 acts as a platform to promote peace to the youth of the world to help build strong and sustainable communities." She touched on the concept behind the inception of ROTA in 2005 one year before Doha's hosting of the 2006 Asian Games. The ROTA chairperson said the foundation wanted to express its appreciation and recognition for the Asian communities of whom many expats participated in the construction process of facilities, and thus, "we wanted to return a part of the favor by enhancing education in their communities through building schools in many deprived Asian countries." Sheikha Mayassa said taking interest in youth stems from the fact that, in the Arab world, they constitute a large segment of up to 65 percent, which means they need support and capacity building in order to be able to tackle the current challenges.
EMPOWER 2015 is not only a social event but also a forum for innovative ideas, HE Sheikha Mayassa said, adding that the outcome of last year's edition was referred to the United Nations and Secretary General ban Ki-moon was briefed on it.
Around 450 youth between the ages of 17-26 years representing 23 countries including KSA, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Cambodia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Greece, Ethiopia, Canada, the United States, Kirgizstan, Bolivia and Sri Lanka. There is also a number of Qatari participants taking part at EMPOWER.