Beirut, 16 February 2017: An Alliance For Youth, launched by Nestlé Middle East last year to bring together companies and other entities that can help young people in the region enhance their skills and develop their careers, is now partnering with the UAE’s General Authority of Youth and Sports and expanding to include Emaar Properties, ENGIE, LinkedIn, L’Oréal, Mohebi Logistics, Nielsen, Publicis Middle East, and the American University in Dubai – with an objective of impacting 50,000 young adults through internships, graduate and training programs, and apprenticeships opportunities, and hiring 3,000 young people throughout Alliance partner companies by 2020.
Announced at a Youth Conference conducted in collaboration with a number of leading universities and held at the American University in Dubai, the expansion came with a pledge from participating companies to engage in collective activities, develop individual initiatives towards youth, and to consolidate collaboration between them.
Speaking at the event, which brought together over 50 professionals from the participating companies who held workshops for more than 100 attending students, His Excellency Khaled Issa Al Midfaa – the Assistant Secretary General at the United Arab Emirates’ General Authority of Youth and Sports and head of the Gulf Youth Committee, emphasized the Authority’s efforts to support the youth of the UAE and highlighted the importance of public sector partnership with the private sector in boosting the role of youth in the development of nations, saying “it is especially important for private and public sector entities to come together to make a difference in the professional lives of young people.”
“We know from experience in other regions that concerted collective efforts through partnerships and collaboration can amplify positive impact in society,” said Nestlé Middle East Chairman and CEO Yves Manghardt, who opened the event and sat in for a Questions and Answers sessions with students. “We are very happy that our objective to mobilize companies to contribute to young people is getting more and more realized everyday.”
The Conference included a panel discussion featuring Nestlé Human Resources Director Christine Geary; Nielson HR Director Tsitsi Mabeza; Hamad Eghdani – Director of Government Relations & Emiratisation at Emaar; and Tala Makhlouf, Director of Student Retention and Success and Special Assistant to the EVP at AUD.
Workshops included a CV Clinic, conducted by Nestlé, ENGIE, Nielson, and L’Oréal; interview tips from Nestlé; “Rock Your Profile” by LinkedIn, and Leadership Style Assessment by HR 90 degrees.
Nestlé’s efforts falls in line with the company’s Creating Shared Value commitment to “Foster Opportunities for Youth,” published in its first Nestlé in Society report for the Middle East in 2015.
Companies can join the Alliance for Youth by opening doors for internships, career trainings and career advising for youth, with more information for interested parties available by email: [email protected].