In December 2011, YOURS attended the 3rd Edition of the Muscat Youth Summit (MYS) which took place on the beautiful resort of Mussanah in Muscat, Oman. The summit was an energetic and forward thinking event that brought young people together from around the world to tackle issues facing young people in a modern world.
Launched in 2009 by the Brand Oman Management Unit(BOMU), The Muscat Youth Summit (MYS) 2011 attracted over 200 participants aged 15 to 24 from 23 countries. MYS is an innovative and international four-day residential initiative that aims to enhance young people’s experiences and perceptions of culture, innovation and enterprise by cultivating skills based learning.
Indeed, in today’s environment, enterprise is about improving our ability to compete and succeed in an ever changing global economy; therefore, it is vital for education and business to work together to ensure that young people are prepared for life and work with the necessary skills, attitudes, experience and motivation to richly contribute. This is exactly what MYS strives to achieve. MYS is also part of Oman’s contribution to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations – a contribution that we are deeply proud of.
Young delegates to the MYS took part in YOURS Global Road Safety workshop.
The YOURS Team travelled to Oman to deliver a session on the Global Road Safety Crisis facing young people. As a workshop that took place alongside global issues of sustainable development, digital participation and arts expression, many of the participants attending the workshop admitted that they did not realise the magnitude of the the important of road safety on a global level.
His Royal Highness Faisal bin Turki Al Said expressed, ‘I am confident MYS 2011 gave participants the skills, knowledge, support andencouragement to empower them to go on and do brilliant things, with the ultimate aim of improving lives and communities. We wish you all every success in the future. (Brand Oman Management Unit)
On page 15 of the Muscart Youth Summit Report there is a summary of the workshop run by YOURS: At a time when the world is facing many problems such as hunger, poverty, natural disasters and wars, why focus on road safety? Are there not more important
things to work towards? How is road safety a global humanitarian crisis and why does it deserve our attention now?
Summary of the YOURS Workshop in the Muscat Youth Summit
Young people under the age of 25 years are the main victims of road crashes worldwide. More young people die from road crashes than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis or cancer. This means that road safety is a serious threat to youth no matter where they are. Workshop participants spent much of the day discussing questions that included:
Getting involved: Where to start
Youth around the world are taking the lead on exciting and innovative road safety initiatives. How can you get
involved? Where do you start? What are existing opportunities you can seize? What are the challenges and how can you overcome them?
Advocating for Road Safety
What do you want others to know about road safety? How can your message reach different audiences, friends,
parents, governments and community organizations? What tools and media are available? What else can you use?
Workshop Deliverables Participants were encouraged to use the knowledge, skills and tools they gained in previous MYS workshops to create road safety messages using different media. The workshop produced a range of powerful film clips encouraging young people to take road safety issues seriously. The film clips will be displayed at an MYS mobile exhibition beginning Q2 2012.
The report, film clips and photo gallery from YOURS’ workshop at the MYS are available to view in the right column!