AUS business students win at international human rights competition

Students from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) School of Business Administration (SBA) won the international Interns@SAP Human Rights Competition sponsored by the global software company SAP this summer. This is the first time interns from the MENA region have entered the competition, which consisted of 550 submissions from 38 countries.

SAP is a leading provider of business software that assists enterprises and governments around the world to improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration, create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations, and improve access to information.

The competition, initiated by SAP Palo Alto in California, required students to form a team of interns and choose from categories including health, education, the environment and human rights. The task was to take a creative photograph and create a tagline of not more than 250 characters that reflected the photograph. Students also had to shortlist a charity organization where the winners would be able to donate on behalf of SAP.

The winning AUS team consisted of Shehan Kanishka Vithanage, Jamal Deeb, Mohammad Misbah Uddin, Salahudin Barakji, Talal Fakhra, Yasmeen Jawad Rwaished, Muhammad Saleh Asif, Salma Ahmed El Mamlouk, Zain Jallad, Hameed Rashed Alfaraj and Khalid Baker.

"We decided to go with the human rights category as we thought that this issue gets the least attention compared to other categories. We started to focus on the unity of different cultures and backgrounds, the acceptance of different races in society, their equal treatment and respect of their presence," said student Mohammad Misbah Uddin. "We chose Madinat Jumeirah as the venue for our photograph as it would reflect the UAE culture and wonders such as Burj Al Arab. The idea was to obtain handprints painted in different colors to represent the origins of different people, and take a photo in a traditional setting. Our tagline was 'We run for human rights because it's a wonderful sight when everyone is treated right regardless of their color or origin.'"

"The competition was intense, but we made it!" said another team member, Jamal Deeb. "When it was announced that we were the winners in the human rights category and first-time winners from the MENA region, it was a moment of pure pride and joy."

The winning team received a donation to the charity of their choice and recognition among SAP intern groups worldwide.