By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter


Exhorting the youth to “seize the opportunities” HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani, chairperson of Reach Out To Asia (Rota), inaugurated the 7th edition of  the youth conference Empower 2015 yesterday.
Minister of Youth and Sports HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, Rota board member Dr Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh bin Nasser, goodwill ambassador Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani, executive director Essa al-Mannai, Kadem Women and Democracy Association (Turkey) deputy chair and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye Erdogan, and Youth Service America CEO Steve Culbertson were among those present at the inaugural ceremony.
Addressing about 450 youth, HE Sheikha Mayassa said: “You are the future, seize the opportunity. The youth have a great role to play in shaping the future of the world. The world has more conflicts wherever there are lesser youth population. You have to be open minded, have mutual respect and ready for exchange of ideas.”
“The youth have to work together to meet the targets. You have to set your own goals and work for specific objectives. Set your targets to achieve them in stipulated time. Come out of selfishness and work hard for the future of your own countries and thereby for the world.”
The Rota chairperson said that the conference is organised and owned by youth and is being introduced to the youth. It focuses on three pillars: Personal leadership, Service learning and Global citizenship.
“The young people taking part in the conference have chosen peace to be their message  to enhance  and promote peace ethics and values among their peers around the globe.”
Dr Aisha bint Faleh Nasser remarked: “This is a highly anticipated, critical opportunity for the world’s young people to talk about the issues that matter to them and learn from each other on how best to tackle these issues in their community.”
Al-Mannai welcomed the gathering and announced that Rota will hold a youth meeting in September as a prelude to the World Humanitarian Summit to be held in Turkey next year.
Some 450 young people between the ages of 16-27 are attending Empower 2015 representing 23 countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Cambodia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, UK, Netherlands, Greece, Ethiopia, Canada, US, Kirgizstan, Bolivia and Sri Lanka. There is also a number of Qatari participants taking part in Empower 2015.
At the end of the ceremony, the names of two winners of “TAMM” Network for Voluntary Work were announced. The winners will travel to Spain to attend El Classico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The prizes were handed by Amal al-Mannai, executive director of Social Development Centre.
The opening ceremony also witnessed the announcement of Rota’s youngest and newest Goodwill ambassador, Ghanem Mohamed al-Muftah.