Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) attaches great importance to supporting young people, investing their potential, and enhance their participation in the sustainable development journey. The total workforce at DEWA includes 3,397 young employees aged between 18 and 35 years; comprising 30% of staff. DEWA’s Youth Council plays a key role in creating communication bridges with other youth councils across the UAE. From October 2019 until the end of December 2022, DEWA’s Youth Council organised more than 65 activities, 25 awareness lectures, and 4 educational trips and field visits. The Council participated in 9 international forums and conferences and hosted 6 delegations within the benchmarking visits programme. A number of council members were delegated for two national and international programmes in 2022. In addition, the Council launched many initiatives and more than 10 communication platforms for its youth employees.
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, praised the contributions of the Council towards achieving DEWA’s goals to invest and empower the potential of youth. This enhances their constructive participation in advancing sustainable development.
“DEWA adopts an integrated strategy to qualify young people to participate in various areas of national work, in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to empower young people and encourage them to build the nation, and anticipate and shape the future. At DEWA, we believe that today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders and the cornerstone of a brighter future for generations to come. They are effective partners in achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050, and the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071 to make the UAE the world’s leading nation,” said Al Tayer.
“As a result of the top management’s support, the Council is intensifying efforts to keep pace with DEWA’s journey in strengthening the role of youth to find innovative and sustainable solutions to fight global challenges, most notably those related to climate change and carbon neutrality, especially considering the UAE’s preparations to host COP28 in 2023,” said Aysha Mohammad Alremeithi, DEWA’s Youth Council President, and the first to receive the Dubai Medal for Young Employee at the Dubai Government Excellence Awards 2021.
Panel Discussions
DEWA’s Youth Council participated in panel discussions held on the sidelines of MENA Climate Week, which was organised from 28 to 31 March 2022 at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, for the first time in the region. As part of the Cleantech Youth programme launched by DEWA’s Innovation Centre, DEWA’s Youth Council participated in a group of innovative educational sessions and workshops. The programme aims to prepare talents, youth leaders from different areas to develop their knowledge and experiences in clean and renewable energy as well as deepen their knowledge on entrepreneurship.
Moreover, during the 8th World Green Economy Summit (WGES) organised by the World Green Economy Organization, DEWA, and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the Youth Council participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘The Role of Youth in Accelerating Climate Action’.
In conjunction with International Youth Day, the Council organised a series of events on investing in youth to advance sustainable development. Several local and corporate youth councils participated, including the Dubai Youth Council, Du Youth Council, Microsoft Youth Council, RTA Youth Council and Emirates Global Aluminium Youth Council. More than 100 youth attended the celebration.
The Council participated in a panel discussion at the Youth Knowledge Forum organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation.
Youth Circles
During the 8thWGES, DEWA’s Youth Council, in cooperation with the Federal Youth Authority, organised a session ‘Youth Action Towards Achieving Net-Zero’. The session discussed several topics related to the role of the youth in climate action; the future skill-sets the youth need to pursue to be able to tackle climate change issues; and the role of the government and private sectors and NGOs in supporting youth action towards achieving net-zero targets. Around 200 youth attended the session. On the sidelines of MENA Climate Week, the Council also participated in a youth circle under the theme ‘The path of COP27 and COP28’.
Collaborating with youth councils
DEWA’s Youth Council participated in the first ‘Youth in Manufacturing & Technology Forum’, hosted by the Youth Council of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and brought together youth councils from manufacturing and technology-led organisations to drive forward ‘Operation 300bn’ and the ‘UAE Centennial 2071’ goal of creating a diversified knowledge economy. In addition, members of DEWA’s Youth Council were sent to participate in the Youth Career Counseling programme organised by Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) in collaboration with the Nordic Embassies in the UAE.
Source: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority