ROTA conference

Qatar-based charity Reach Out To Asia (Rota) will hold its annual youth conference promoting leadership, service learning and global citizenship “Empower 2010” from April 1-3 at the La Cigale hotel, it was announced yesterday.
The conference, which is being held for the second consecutive year by Rota, is open to young people aged 14-24 years, teachers, lecturers, educators and student affairs officers and they can register online via Rota’s website www.reachouttoasia.org.
“Empower 2010 is spearheaded by Rota’s Qatar-based programme named ROTAQ and it is being held in line with our strategic objectives of promoting education and making it accessible to less fortunate in the society,” Rota’s community development manager Reem al-Daghma said at a press conference yesterday.
Around 250 participants and 15 observers are expected at the conference, which will focus on leadership training, debating skills and advocacy strategies.
The conference built on three themes will also feature keynote speeches, workshops, debates, and off-site projects.
The activities throughout the event will be conducted by Qatar University students belonging to the campus political society club while Qatar Today and Qatar Debate experts will moderate and judge respectively.
“The themes of this conference are personal leadership, service learning and global citizenship to create awareness of global issues among participants as well as empower them to develop not just their skills and knowledge but also the right mindset and attitudes to take on leadership roles,” learning and capacity building co-ordinator Vivien Looi explained.
She said the conference would further create an environment for youth to discover their voice and realise their potential to make a positive contribution in their communities and facilitate a forum for exchange of ideas, projects and reflections that address local needs and global issues.
Also speaking, Rota’s Abdallah Diwan explained the activities of the off-site projects under each theme.
“There will be four off-site activities relating to healthy lifestyle, waste management, reading session and environmental activities all to be co-ordinated by students from different clubs in different schools across the country,” he said.
Other off-site projects to be showcased at the meet include music composition for change in society, advocacy challenge and blogging to empower, he added