In response to the commitment of youth, citizens and residents of Qatar to help alleviate the suffering of refugees and internally displaced persons, and the organization’s belief that achieving peace and stability everywhere in the world starts from combating poverty, unemployment, extremism, and marginalizing young men and women through empowering them and providing them with jobs, Silatech launched a humanitarian campaign entitled “Charitable competition to support young refugees and internally displaced persons” at a press conference held today.

The initiative seeks to involve the youth of Qatar and the Qatari community in providing humanitarian assistance and solutions to the Syrian crisis of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. It also contributes to enhancing the role of youth as global citizens to address the major global challenges, in particular the issue of refugees and displaced persons, and promote a sense of compassion and responsibility towards their peer disadvantaged youth.

led by 30 young men and women in Qatar competing to mobilize funds to generate jobs for 30 thousand young refugees within 30 days, the campaign aims at providing refugees and their families with decent livelihood opportunities and enable them to improve their lives.

During the press conference, Mr. Faisal Al Emadi, Executive Director of Programs at Silatech said: “Silatech works to connect disadvantaged and marginalized youth with opportunities: vocational training opportunities and the development of skills required by employers, employment opportunities, and support funding them to establish income-generating enterprises, especially youth in conflict and crisis affected areas.”

Al Emadi stressed on dedicating 12^th of October 2018 for donations through live broadcast that will be hosted by Al Rayan TV and in Mall of Qatar from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm where everyone is invited to support youth to collect enough donations to create job opportunities for Syrian refugees. Donations will be through the live broadcast or all communication channels announced by Al Rayyan TV throughout the month of October.

This campaign, spearheaded by Youth in Qatar, was launched under the sponsorship and with the support of various partners from all sectors contributing to the efforts of the State of Qatar and its pioneering humanitarian and developmental role to help neighboring societies in general and the refugees in particular. It is based on the unity of the government and its people as a single body for promoting charity and philanthropy. The State of Qatar is at the top of the list of donor countries that provide humanitarian and development assistance worldwide; an active humanitarian role that contributes to its achievement and continuity all segments of Qatar’s society.

During the press conference, Sheikh Ahmed Al Buainain, Muslim preacher, said: “The worsening of the tragic situation of refugees and internally displaced persons requires our support by providing them with decent work and thus saving entire families children, women and old people from poverty. Allah said: “The believers are but brothers”, We see our young people embarking on their good deeds, out of their awareness of the nation’s issues and the major events happening, and their sense of responsibility towards their fellow refugees.”

Habes Howail. Head of External Relations at Qatar Foundation and representative of the youth in the competition said:” We are all aware of the suffering of our fellow refugees in this ongoing tragedy, an issue that has many economic and social dimensions that affects not only the lives of the refugees and his host society but also affects us all in terms of the security and prosperity of our nation. We are part of a wider and interconnected world, our prosperity and stability is part of theirs. We have been taught by our country these values. We, as young people of Qatar, have to contribute to alleviating refugee of their sufferings. We feel obliged to give back to our country that provides us with safety and security while young people like us live among wars and displacement. “

“It is with great honor for our young people to lead this campaign for their brothers and sisters who do not enjoy the same opportunities, to be role models for giving, and to compete for the good of others. We thank all the partner institutions that have not spared efforts to support this humanitarian campaign. This is a living example of the culture of the State of Qatar for humanitarian and charitable work, the high values inherent in the Qatari society, residents and citizens, individuals and institutions, and across all sectors. We look forward to collecting enough donations to provide sources of livelihoods for these unprivileged youth” Al Emadi concluded.

The tragedy of refugees is not limited to fleeing their countries in search of safety. It has cost them the loss of family and loved ones, and the image of the Syrian child “Elan” who died on the shores of Turkey is still fresh in our memories. These refugees who survived the war or the death brokers face complicated problems and lack of access to suitable work, for reasons including lack of proficiency in the language of the host country, inadequate experience with labor market requirements, lack of required educational qualifications in the host country’s labor market or because they had to leave their studies and could not obtain a university degree that would enable them to find decent work, or simply because of the poor economic situation in the host country.

Silatech has responded to the refugee crises wherever they are and has devised customized programs to provide them with employment opportunities, training, and skills development to get jobs in their new lives. For example, Silatech has implemented various programs to support thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons in various countries, such as ad hoc programs that trained and employed thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey, the program of supporting youth entrepreneurs in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and a program to train internally displaced youth in Syria and provide them with tools and workshops to work on future projects. In addition, Silatech implemented an economic empowerment program for battered, disabled, refugee and displaced women in Sudan, as well as many other programs to train and employ young men and women displaced by conflicts and natural disasters in Somalia.

The proactive and inclusive vision of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, which sees youth as the foundation of the renaissance of nations if they are empowered and linked to employment opportunities, has proved successful over the past ten years through providing one million jobs for young people which have changed the lives of entire families and communities to the better in 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa from the countries in which Silatech operates to support youth employment, including young refugees and displaced persons.

Young people have always been the focus of Silatech’s work, and in light of the difficult economic conditions experienced by refugees and their families, this campaign is a continuation of the organization’s hard work in fighting poverty and youth unemployment, which is one of the most pressing problems in our Arab world.