GCC-secretary general organises fourth youth workshop on GCC citizenship

The Secretariat-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf will organise its 4th youth workshop on Wednesday and Thursday September 10 and 11. Entitled ‘The Gulf Cooperation Council and GCC Citizenship’, the two-day workshop will be held in Kuwait, under the patronage and presence of HE Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al Humoud Al Sabah, Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and in presence of HE Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The event is part of a series of workshops being held by the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States in the member states, following a decision made by the GCC Supreme Council, during its 34th summit in Kuwait in December 2013, which affirmed the necessity of nurturing and developing young people. The workshop will be attended by a number of Their Excellencies ministers and top-level officials from Kuwait as well as undersecretaries of the concerned ministries from the GCC countries. More than 200 young men and women from all the member states will be also in attendance.
The workshop aims to encourage young people to promote the spirit of GCC citizenship among GCC citizens in order to strengthen the unity and solidarity among the GCC countries in the aspects of joint action. It, also, aims to explore what the GCC can do to achieve the ambitions of the young people of the GCC and activate their roles in the process of joint action. The activity, furthermore, aims to unify efforts to ensure safe and stable living for all citizens in the GCC states in the present and for coming generations in the future.
The sessions will discuss three main topics, namely, ‘The Concept of Citizenship’, ‘GCC Citizenship and the Related Fundamental Values’ and ‘Necessary Policies and Rules to Bestow Citizenship’. In addition, the workshop will discuss the role of the Council in meeting the needs for youth training and empowerment, including the provision of education, vocational training, employment, and the acquisition of personal skills development. The session will, also, address youth involvement in decision-making positions and ways to activate this involvement in the GCC’s joint action.
At the end of the workshop, experts and a group of participating young people, will evaluate findings, propose practical recommendations for follow up actions, and develop mechanisms and programmes to implement the recommendations and findings of the workshop, and submit them to the Council of Ministries before submission to the Supreme Council in the next summit.