Dubai (Union)
The Youth Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai hosted a number of young people who worked as part of the Expo 2020 team, who contributed to organizing the largest global event in the region over the past years, with the aim of shedding light on the experience of young people working in the organization of (Expo 2020). “The most youthful in the history of the exhibition” and a review of the most important lessons learned, influential moments, tasks and challenges behind the scenes of the most important event hosted by the UAE this year.
The meeting, which was hosted by the Youth Pavilion, was attended by His Excellency Shamma Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Vice President of the Arab Youth Center and Saeed Al-Nazari, Director General of the Federal Youth Authority, Chief Strategy Officer at the Arab Youth Center. In it, a number of young people from the Emirates who worked over the past years within the Expo 2020 team spoke about their experiences and their role in realizing the promise of the leadership of the United Arab Emirates to organize an exceptional event that dazzles the world.
Her Excellency Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, said: From the first day of work on the Expo, we have been keen for Emirati youth to have a pivotal and essential role in this global event, based on the directives of our wise leadership that young people be At the heart of the “Expo”, and that they have a footprint and effective participation in all the details of planning, implementation and final output of this event.
Our trust in our youth has no limits, they are the future, and our trust in them stems from the trust that the UAE leadership has for them and their role in building the nation, now and in the future. Al Hashemi said: Working with the youth inspired us and helped us think in many details that we would not have thought of, had it not been for the presence of the creative minds of young people. and inspiring within our team.
amazing models
In an intervention during the session, Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail bin Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Vice President of the Arab Youth Center, said: “The session presented a pioneering model in empowering youth and giving them confidence within the team of Her Excellency Reem Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of ( Expo 2020 Dubai), which translates the vision of our wise leadership on the importance of involving young people to play leadership roles to host this largest global forum in the region. to manage its projects. She added, addressing her speech to the participating youth: “Today, you are building a legacy and a model that everyone should follow when working on projects aimed at empowering youth.”
Her Excellency said: “Meeting these young people is an opportunity to take a close look at their stories and what they worked to accomplish behind the scenes of this important event. Talking about him being the most youthful in the history of the World Expo was not just a general description, but rather a method and approach that the UAE leadership has worked to support since The first day, whether by involving young people in organizing them, or by dedicating a pavilion that celebrates the experiences of young people and tells the story of the Emirati man.”
Diverse and rich professional backgrounds
Saeed Al-Nazari participated in the session’s management and spoke about the role of youth in organizing this event, and said: “The aim of this pavilion is to celebrate the human being, and that everyone witnessed the success of (Expo) in all its details, and the experience of UAE youth in working on an event of the magnitude (Expo 2020). Dubai), is an experience that must be conveyed and be a model for engaging young people to work on designing and organizing a global event of this magnitude. The event, and they worked on the smallest details, continuing day and night, and today we are happy to show everyone these stories that we are proud of.”
He added: “Behind every station there is a story, and today we review stories of gold, behind them are young men and women from the Emirates, we are proud of them and all they have done for this event, and that faith in the youth resulted in this achievement that we are proud of today.”
The first day of the event
Rawda Al Hashemi, Assistant Director of Finance at Expo, who has worked with the Expo team for more than four years, spoke about her experience, and said: “I was fortunate that my work at (Expo) was the first job, and it is like giving back to this dear country.” I worked on managing the finances of a number of (Expo) departments, and I am grateful that I was able to serve my country while working at (Expo).”
On the proudest moment she felt throughout her career, Rawda said: The day of the opening ceremony was a moment of great pride for her and the team, after seeing the reaction of the dignitaries and attendees.
Rawda recalled the first moments of her work in the “Expo” office, when she and her colleagues were counting the remaining days for the start of the event and their eagerness for the day to start the event as the countdown approached day after day.
Communicate the idea of ”Expo” to everyone
Regarding his experience in the administration of protocols and services, Ibrahim Nabil, Director of Protocols and Guest Services, who has worked in this team for more than four years, said: “We have been working on managing the daily operations of the protocols, starting from children to dignitaries and state guests in the (Expo) operations command center. Perhaps the most prominent of these experiences was the reception of children and the interest in providing them with a unique experience in order for them to reach the full picture of this global event.” He said: “We used to describe to them the magnitude of the project by recalling the information that the land on which the (Expo) is held is equivalent to an area of more than 600 football fields. Foot”.
Regarding the difficulties, Ibrahim talked about the moment of working with the ceremonial committees of delegations and dignitaries, as it was the most challenging moment because of the moments of great psychological pressure and changes in the last moments.
Building an integrated city
Yousef Al Ali, Project Manager, Real Estate Development and Delivery, said after his experience with the Expo team exceeded five years:
“We worked from the beginning to make (Expo) a model that adopts best practices, such as sustainability and mobility, and we worked to set our own standards for the implementation of this event, taking into account the smallest details.”
Al Ali said: “We worked to build an integrated city equivalent to 600 football fields or twice the area of the city of Monaco, and we worked on the smallest details related to the infrastructure with all parties in the local and federal government.”
From a volunteer in Milan to an assistant director at the “Expo” office
We put ourselves in the place of the visitor
Afra Sultan Al Suwaidi, head of the Operations Planning Office, said: I started with “Expo” in the Operations Management Department more than five years ago, and then moved to work in the Planning Office.
At the conclusion of the session, the young people working in the Expo office unanimously agreed that there is another challenge awaiting them on their journey after the completion of “Expo 2020 Dubai”, and they said that their career after the “Expo” will be full of experiences that will not leave them with the passage of days, and that there are dozens of opportunities Which may be waiting for them the moment they finish their due rest – they say – after the completion of this event.
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