His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, met Saturday afternoon, the winners of the third edition of the Sheikh Sultan Award for Celebrating the Spirit of Youth, at the Al Badi’e Palace Majlis.
During the reception, His Highness delivered a speech in which he congratulated the winners and called on them to continue to strive and practice the skills and activities that benefit them, pointing to the importance of this award. “This award is not only for honouring or encouraging some of you, but rather for raising this idea in society, as we are a society that develops with time, but with this rapid development, there are many things that others practice and know more about, and our society may be oblivious to, such as volunteering, activities, initiatives and skills,” His Highness said.
His Highness added, "This year, the number of participants stands at 900, and in the previous two editions the number was 600. What we seek to raise through these practices- be they activities and volunteering, is not only this number, but the community at large. And you, the winners, since you got the award, should be with us and encourage others. We want to raise this idea because volunteering is a feature of society, and society will not only succeed with laws and regulations, but also with the behaviour and personality of the citizens in this country, and we urge you to be models and invite others and urge them, and we will see after that the viability of a number of individuals turns into viability for society.”
Regarding the expansion of the award, His Highness said, "This batch opened the doors of the award to society, not to a limited group of people. We note that some of the winners are residents, and we are happy with their participation, which will contribute to the advancement of society."
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah continued, “We say to the young men and women, give us a little of your time to practice sports, volunteering, adventures, etc., and you will first benefit a lot physically, intellectually, etc. When you win the Sheikh Sultan Award for Celebrating the Spirit of Youth, even the community and the neighbourhood will talk about your achievement and will be happy for you.”
During his speech, His Highness recalled the days of his childhood and youth, the extent of enthusiasm, joy and pleasure that winning prizes brings, and the extent of its reflection on the winner in elevating his personality and developing his skills which make him permanently an active participant, pointing to the positive atmosphere that preceded winning modest and simple prizes at that time when the values of cooperation and readiness to compete and win strongly rise, along with encouragement and a great moral boost from parents in moments of victory, which brings happiness to the hearts of young children for bringing joy and happiness to their parents.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah drew attention to the role of activities and volunteering in developing children's self-confidence and improving their personalities and social intelligence, stressing that these areas are necessary in the period of study and youth, as they contribute to improving thinking skills, participation, good behaviour, innovation and meaningful dialogue, which makes those who practice it an example and a model for others.
His Highness concluded by advising the winners to continue to make efforts and practice what benefits them in all fields. His Highness also instructed those in charge of the award to upgrade it and strengthen their affiliation with it, while setting standards and conditions that contribute to making the participants practice activities and skills efficiently, not just registration, and preparing to deal with the large numbers of participants from the community.