Doha: Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), yesterday participated in a panel discussion at the Doha Giffoni Youth Media Summit 2015 as part of the Ajyal Youth Film Festival.
The discussion focused on children in conflict areas under the theme ‘Empowering Youth to Share Their Stories’.
ROTA supports QF on its mission to unlock the potential of young leaders regionally and internationally and equip them with tools to become actively involved in building strong and sustainable communities, which is part of Economic and Social Development goals outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030.
Essa Al Mannai, Executive Director, ROTA, said: “The festival provides an opportunity for people of all ages to come together in a collaborative environment to express themselves, and ROTA is thrilled to have been invited to take part in an event closely aligned with our goal of educating and empowering young people.”
Al Mannai praised the festival and said it added value to the human development sector in the cinema and film industry, which is helping to shed light on human development issues and the world’s growing humanitarian crisis. He said they are great awareness building tools that should be utilised more to include youth in filmmaking to give them a voice and hands-on experience.
He also called on the global community to engage and empower young people to break the cycle of violence and inspire them to tell their stories, creating content to promote change.
He said ROTA is a believer in youth as agents of change. “The central objective of ROTA is to provide an opportunity for education for all young people and help them realise their full potential and shape the development of their communities. “In this time of global instability, it is estimated that surging conflict in the Middle East and North Africa alone is preventing over 13 million children from going to school.”
QNA
