United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, announced today that its Youth Council was awarded “Organisation of the Year for Youth Empowerment” at GCC GOV HR Awards 2023.

The award came in recognition of the EGA Youth Council’s role in upskilling and empowering future leaders, in line with the National Youth Strategy of the UAE.

EGA Youth Council’s youth empowerment programmes include Fursa, an online educational platform for young people at EGA developed with partners including INSEAD and the London Business School. The platform offers local and international academic programmes as well as events participation across the UAE. Fursa has so far included 14 courses with over 120 participants.

Last year, EGA’s Youth Council hosted the first ‘Youth in Manufacturing & Technology Forum’, bringing together 17 corporate Youth Councils from manufacturing and technology-led organisations to drive forward Operation 300bn and the UAE Centennial 2071 goal of creating a diversified knowledge economy.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “I congratulate EGA Youth Council on this well-deserved recognition. Empowering the next generation of leaders is crucial for the future success of our company and our nation. Through these programmes, we ensure youth actively participate in decision-making while being offered tailored learning and development opportunities to unlock their full potential.”

Hala Alhashmi, Chair of EGA Youth Council and a senior engineer in the company’s Lean & Quality and Innovation department, said: “We are honoured to be recognised by the GCC GOV HR award. Empowering and upskilling youth is a core part of our Youth Council mission, and we appreciate the support we receive from EGA’s leadership. We are proud to be playing an important role in achieving our company’s bold aspirations of becoming a talent-driven organisation and the industrial employer of choice.”

Internationally, the Youth Council represented the UAE and EGA at global forums including the IEC Young Professionals Program in San Francisco, the Young Leadership Forum in Bahrain and the Artificial Intelligence Programme in Oxford.

Other programmes developed by the Youth Council include EGA Youth Majlis, a recurring meeting for cross-functional collaboration and ideation. The council also supported EGA’s Talent Management team in creating the LEAP program, an innovative graduate development and mentoring initiative.

Established in 2018, EGA’s Youth Council is a platform for aspiring young employees to enhance their leadership skills and develop into pacesetters for change in the nation. The council operates under three main tenets as the foundation of its five-year strategy: youth empowerment, engagement and development.

EGA currently employs over 2,000 people under the age of 35.