Young Arab Leaders

Muna Al Gurg at a meeting with YAL members
and Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

Founded in 2004 and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and the ruler of Dubai, Young Arab Leaders (YAL) works to address one of the biggest problems youth in the Arab world face—unemployment. YAL tackles this problem head on by encouraging and funding the educations of the next generation of leaders. The organisation promotes leadership skills and entrepreneurship. Muna Al Gurg, a board member of the UAE chapter and their vice chairperson, tells us a more about YAL and looks toward its future and the future lives of those it helps the most.

What is your involvement with YAL?

My role is to orchestrate an atmosphere where our members are keen on being part of the organisation and attend our events in order to network and exchange ideas. Consequently, they voluntarily assist on executing our initiatives to create change within the lives of Arab youth and their communities. An example of my involvement was when, through my contacts at the British Embassy, I facilitated a summit between YAL and the British Business Group that was attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson. We discussed important issues shared between the UAE and UK, including education, renewable energy and entrepreneurship.

What are YAL's major goals?

YAL, is a non-profit organisation that has taken it upon itself, through its members, to empower Arab youth with quality education and entrepreneurship opportunities to face real world challenges. We focus on our benefactors—youth between the ages of 18-24. Our members are above the age of 30 and have all reached positions of leadership within their careers in the Arab world and act as role models and mentors to our youth. Our long term goal is to empower the youth with access to successful leaders to encourage participation in the private sector and address the challenges of unemployment in the Middle East.

Manar Al Eman charity school

Why is the work of YAL so important?

Our work is extremely important as it brings about real change within our communities. These changes can help transform a whole generation's future. This comes at a critical time, where mushrooming populations in the Middle East are largely comprised of youth. The strategic focus of YAL is to help in the creation of a generation of capable youth equipped to handle the demands and needs of the job market. YAL aims to provide the youth with programmes and training opportunities to equip the youth with the knowledge and skills needed to secure employment in the private sector, as well as establishing their own businesses as entrepreneurs.

What has been accomplished so far?

In 2009 YAL, UAE signed an agreement with HSBC to provide 100 internships to successful students within the country. We have also been working very closely with funding Manar Al Eman charity school in one of our emirates. We have provided their top students scholarships to study for engineering degrees at the American University in Sharjah. We have also aligned ourselves with Dundee University in Scotland that has offered us 10 fully paid scholarships. YAL is involved with screening and interviewing students in order to identify the suitable individuals who fit the criteria to attend the universities. Another great initiative that we have developed is the "Lecture Circuit," where our members (who are mostly top CEOs) enter into universities and give inspirational talks.

What do you hope to accomplish in the near future?

I would like to see us develop a self-sustaining fund to provide thousands of top students scholarships for a higher education. I really do want to tackle the issue of unemployment in the Middle East. I would also like to increase the number of members in the UAE chapter, especially female. Personally I want to see the name YAL resonate as one of the top positive influencers of youth in the region.