Officials, guests and youth representatives during the Generation Amazing Festival 2021opening ceremony in Education City, yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Generation Amazing Festival 2021, an event meant to inspire a generation committed to social change through the power of sport begun yesterday at Education City in the presence of over hundred young people.
Held in partnership with Qatar Foundation, GA Festival 2021 offers a unique opportunity for youth from across the region to learn about the power of football and how it can be used to transform their communities.
“The legacy of Generation Amazing has created an impact on many over the years. Our third festival this year theme ‘All In’ emphasises the vital role every young person has to play in improving their communities,” said Programmes Director of Generation Amazing, Nasser Al Khori, during the opening ceremony. GA Festival 2021 over four days will focus on connecting youth ages 16-24 to the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 and creating lasting learning experiences.
President of Community Development, at Qatar Foundation, Machaille Hassan Al Naimi, said: “We are very happy to have over a hundred Arab people here for the festival in honour of the FIFA Arab Cup. Over the next four days, I hope the youth participants will enjoy the Education City.”
“As a strategic partner we are honoured to be in so many ways. Not only by hosting incredible group of people with us but having different entities within the Qatar Foundation deliver sessions to you. This partnership really excites me the impact we have together is powerful,” she added.
The opening ceremony of GA Festival 2021 featured Giles Duley, photographer who is best known for his work documenting the long term impact of war shared his incredible life story of being injured by an accident and then standing on a landmine and losing three limbs. Duley shared how he harnessed strength at an overwhelmingly difficult time in his life.
“Don’t think about the things you can’t control, but focus on the things you can. Then excel at those,” said Duley addressing the young people and his talk received an emotional standing ovation from the audience. He also hosted a workshop on photography yesterday. Mariam Al Dhubhani, a Yemeni-Russian award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and curator also shared her experience in working on document about young war refugees.
GA Festival 2021 will include football for development workshops and details of the recently-announced ‘One Goal Arabia’ programme, which Generation Amazing launched in collaboration with Aurora for Training and Development, the Asian Football Confederation and the Confederation for African Football. Key themes will include using football as a tool for development and peace, addressing social challenges, project management and implementation, as well as leadership and advocacy.
The festival will end with a football for good tournament called ‘All In Game’, which is designed to maximise social skill development outcomes. On the final day of the programme, participants will attend the FIFA Arab Cup final at Al Bayt Stadium.
