January 12, 2011

NEWS: Arab media urged to focus on youth related issues

The need to focus on youth related issues and to reflect their hopes and aspirations in the Arab satellite channels was highlighted by several participants at a four-day seminar that concluded in Doha yesterday.
The final communiqué issued after the Arab Media for the Youth conference called for among other things: setting up of a ministry for youth affairs in every Arab country; a charter of principles and programmes for implementation; to make the media an effective tool in guiding the youth; and to have a balanced approach towards sports and non-sports activities. It also called for presenting plausible alternatives to the current negative image about the Arab youth in all the media channels, according to reports published in the local Arabic press.

“It is unfortunate that the sports clubs in the Arab World pay very little attention to cultural matters,” said the director of youth affairs department Khalid al-Mulla in his presidential remarks. It is imperative he said that equal attention should be paid to the mind and the body in order to nurture a generation of well rounded youth.

“The media has a vital role to play in instilling the right ideas and concepts in the young minds” said Ms. Samar Kaldani, the director of the “al-Hasan Youth Award” of Jordan. The Arab media must address the problems, hopes and aspirations of the youth. And the academic curriculum for all levels of education should also project these goals, she said.

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