Judging panels of the top 15 social enterprises nominated for the Emirates Award for the Arabian Gulf Youth kicked off this morning in Abu Dhabi. Launched under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of Emirates Foundation, the Award aims to encourage the youth within the GCC youth to take a leading role and effectively participate in serving their communities. It also seeks to unlock young people’s social entrepreneurship potential and to establish leading social enterprises which are capable of understanding and addressing social challenges within their communities innovatively to achieve positive and sustainable changes.

The Emirates Foundation had extended invitations to all teams nominated for the Award across the GCC region, to be flown to Abu Dhabi to present their innovative ideas to a panel of judges, which would in turn review and assess the projects and award the best three social enterprises. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed will honor the winning projects at the Emirates Foundation’s Recognition Ceremony event due to be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) tomorrow.

The one-day judging panels saw the top 15 teams nominated for the Award deliver introductory presentations, while each team had the chance to showcase their proposed social enterprises and elaborate on related ideas and business approaches they would use to establish these projects and sustain them.

Judging committees are comprised of carefully selected figures with broad experience and deep knowledge of leading social enterprises, such as Abdullah Saeed Al Darmaki, Chief Executive Officer, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Muna Al Gurg, Director Retail, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, Hammam K. Zare, General Manager at the Society of Majid Bin Abdulaziz for Development and Social Services, Dr. Khaled Mohammed Al-Khazraji, Partner and CEO of the Al Kawthar Investment, and Saeed Rashid Al Zaabi, Government Relations Manager at Shell, Abu Dhabi.

Judges made their informed decisions based on a number of objective criteria including the originality of the idea, the level of innovation of the project, the potential for the business to sustain itself and the level of scalability as well as its ability to achieve a positive social impact.

Winners of the Award, which seeks to encourage and unlock the creativity of young people, will be receiving technical and financial support to establish their social enterprises. The First Place winner will be allocated an incubation grant of AED 100,000, while the Second Place winner AED70,000, and the AED 50,000 for the Third Place winner. In Addition, winners will have the chance to get involved in mentorship programmes provided by Emirates Foundation and its partners across the GCC.

Maytha Al Habsi, Chief Programme Officer at Emirates Foundation, said, “The Emirates Award for the Arabian Gulf Youth was launched in 2014, in implementation of the directives of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of Emirates Foundation. This initiative reflects the keenness of our wise leadership to invest in youth and develop their creative capabilities to partake in building a better future for the GCC countries.”

“Today we have watched unique innovative presentations from all over the GCC region competing to win Emirates Award for the Arabian Gulf Youth in a way which exceeded our expectations. Marked in their entirety by innovation, presentations were delivered in a positive and inspirational atmosphere. Members of the judging committee will spare an effort to assess these projects and select the winners, based on objective criteria related to the ability of the winning projects to address the challenges the community faces, and provide long-term innovative solutions,” Added Al Habsi.

“We are proud of the capabilities of the GCC region’s young people and launching this initiative have enabled us to highlight their potential, creativity and ambitions. Over the coming months, we will join forces with our partners across the GCC to help the winners implement their social enterprises on the ground,” concluded Al Habsi.

“We’d like to truly thank H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and Emirates Foundation for launching this ambitious initiative, which gave us the opportunity to present our ideas and compete to win the Award in an inspiring atmosphere. We’ve really enjoyed the concept presentations delivered by the nominated teams from all the GCC countries. This was the perfect opportunity for me to learn and share our experiences among all participants. We look forward to the results, and identifying the GCC-level winners,” said Mashaal Al-Marzooqi, nominee for the project titled “Factory of Dream”.

Nominated top 15 entries were selected by panel comprising of highly experienced judges from the world of social enterprise after receiving more than 500 Award applications. Originality of the idea was a key factor in the judging process followed by its overall potential in remaining financially self-sustainable and the level of its social impact.

Projects and teams nominated for the top 15 project ideas for the Award are:

• “Factory of Dream”: Mashaal Al-Marzooqi and Saeed Al Nazari from United Arab Emirates.
• “PURE”: Sali Alolayan and Lulwah Abdulaziz from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• “Waterproof Hearing Aid”: Maha Al Otaibi from Saudi Arabia
• “The Wish Youth Service Programme”: Hala Al Khalifa from Kingdom of Bahrain
• “Car Service Centre Run by Women”: Sultan Al Sawai from Sultanate of Oman
• “Water Systems Management”: Duha Al Madani, Sheikha Rashed and Hana’a Aladin from Kingdom of Bahrain
• “Edkhari”: Asmaa Fatani from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Reality Game – “I Challenge”: Ahmed Ibrahim from Kingdom of Bahrain
• “Aman” wristband: Maha Al Dhaheri, Intesar Al Hajri and Ahmed Al Blooshi from United Arab Emirates
• “Themar” Youth Centre: Iman Ustadi, Fatemah Obaidly and Saeed Al Jalandi from United Arab Emirates, State of Kuwait and Sultanate of Oman
• “Bayanat DMC”: Fatema Al Gharbi and Ali Al Shehab from Kingdom of Bahrain
• “Mobile Beauty Centre for Children with Special Needs”: Fatma Al Hashimi from United Arab Emirates
• Health Food Programme System for School Students – “Lunch Box”: Zakeyah Al Sada and Maryam Al Awadhi from Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates
• “Reading Skill Application for Special Needs Children”: May Al Otaibi from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• “Ehsan Training Centre for Alzheimer Patients Care Providers”: Abdullah Al Shammari and Ayman Mohammad from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Sudan