His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah, has launched the first edition of the “Sheikh Sultan Award for Celebrating the Spirit of Youth”, laying the foundations of a new platform that will celebrate and empower young people’s achievements, initiatives and skills.

During the launch ceremony of the award, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah said: “Today, we are happy to host you on the occasion of launching a new and important award, which supports our sons and daughters not just in the emirate of Sharjah alone, but across the UAE. The objective of this award is to propel them towards excellence, towards creative efforts and encourage them to develop their growth in all aspects of societal life.”

His Highness added: “The youth are the future of this world and it is our duty and responsibility to provide our sons and daughters the necessary avenues to develop their physical and mental capabilities, and explore new avenues to acquire talents and skills, which would help them excel in their respective fields.”

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah concluded: “We celebrate and support excellence in every field, without exception. We consider it a development imperative to open new doors to young people in the UAE to pursue holistic personal development where they can invest as much of their efforts as possible to add meaning to their journey of learning.”

The official launch of the Arab region’s first of its kind award, took place yesterday (Thursday), during an awarding ceremony at the Al Badee’ Palace, in a celebration of the outstanding young achievers of the award’s preparatory edition.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah, the award’s participation and registration is open to all youths and young future leaders of any nationality residing in the UAE, and must be within the 13 to 18 age group.

Sheikh Sultan Award for Celebrating the Spirit of Youth aims to become an international platform opened for youths and young leaders from the UAE and all over the world, with future editions opening its doors to international participations from the same age group.

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah will present the winners of the award and its categories medals and official certificates during a prestigious award ceremony held at Al Bade’a Palace.

The ‘Award, its categories and criteria promote a philosophy of bringing academia and skills into a synergy acquired by youths and young leaders through mental, spiritual and physical achievements.

This philosophy directly supports the development and sustainability of generations equipped with knowledge, ideologies and practices that help them create positive influences and results for the future. It also supports the required growths and development factors for social, cultural and economic eco-systems, and preserves the very essence of humanity and its core identity, which is to continue in creating positive cultural and economic influences.

Through a carefully studied criteria, the award is broken down to three levels of recognition – gold, silver and bronze – the award sections wrap around volunteering, adventure, skills and hobbies to allow young applicants get official recognition for their involvement in these sections, while also helping them to get the most out of their experiences.

In order to register for one or more of the award sections, participants must complete the set number of hours assigned respectively for each.

The award process

When the required hours are completed, participants can register and upload documents and videos reflecting their achievements on the personal accounts they can create on the award’s website https://sheikhsultanaward.ae/ .

Those who choose to register for the ‘Adventure’ section need to complete the allocated number of hours across a variety of adventure-based activities such as camping, mountain climbing and others.

In the ‘Volunteering’ section, participants can choose the type of volunteering activity with the objective of creating social value. In the ‘Skills’ section, participants will pick a skill they wish to develop from the approved list of skills on the award’s website, while in ‘Hobbies’, participants select one from the approved list, and document their journey in developing the same in a short video.

For bronze medal, participants need to register their achievements in two sections; 20 hours of volunteering as well three days and two nights adventure. Silver medal will be offered to applicants upon fulfilling three requirements – 30 hours of volunteering, an adventure for four days and three nights, and 30 hours spent on developing a skill, or pursuing a hobby in a 5 to 10 minute video that showcases their achievements

Finally, to score gold medal, the applicant’s activities must encompass the four following sections: 40 hours of volunteering, an adventure for five days and four nights, 40 hours of skill development, and present one’s journey pursuing a hobby in a 5 to 10 minute video.

The preparatory edition of the award witnessed a participation of around 66 members from  Sajaya Young Ladies of Sharjah and Sharjah Youth, 47 of whom made it to the finals and His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah honoured the winners at the Award Ceremony with a medal and a certificate of recognition for each winner.