SLP students take part in the One Young World Summit 2013 in South Africa

Students from the Student Leadership Program at AUS took part in the One Young World (OYW) Summit held October 2-5, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The One Young World was founded in 2009 with an aim to gather young people from around the world and help them network to create positive change. The summit allows young delegates to work with OYW counselors, as well as debate and formulate solutions for major issues concerning our world today.

Statistics show that more than one million people have been affected by the positive work derived from OYW ambassadors, with more than 130 projects operating in a total of 100 countries. OYW focuses on multiple disciplines emphasizing on the importance of transparency in business, engineering, government and the impact of climate change, global health and hunger relief.

"To be successful in the community, we have to consider any problem we face and establish a creative solution. During the One Young World Summit 2013, I was inspired by the creativity of the youth around the world and their abilities to overcome the obstacles they face. Education, human rights, environmental sustainability are some of many topics we discussed in the OYW summit, which are certainly very essential issues in any human's life. Being part of the OYW-2013-Johanesburg was an absolutely pleasure for me to be able to represent the UAE, especially AUS, and I am looking forward to being at the OYW-2014-Dublin," said architecture student Hanin Hazeem.

"The OYW summit was an incredible learning experience for our students. With an aim to nurture civic responsibility in the youth, the summit was in line with the objectives of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) in promoting and instilling civic leadership and social responsibility. The influence of inspiring individuals who have served their communities such as Mrs. Mandela, Sir Richard Branson, Professor Muhammad Yunus and Kofi Anan and much more had a very positive impact on our students. OSA will continue to participate in the OYW summit to encourage our youth to contribute to their communities for the common good and develop solutions to battle global issues that are impacting our lives," said Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.