A UAE-based organisation has launched an ambitious project in Dubai to impart leadership, thinking and entrepreneurial skills to children and youth in a bid to create one million young future leaders in the region by 2015.

Future Leadership Academy (FLA) in its first initiative will launch the Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) program for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.

The academy’s expansion plans are set to take root in the UAE and will eventually move to five countries by 2014, said its top official.

Dr Curtis L DeBerg, founder of Sage said: “If we truly want to inspire the next generation of young people to be committed to community causes as well as activities for their personal gain, then we need an education model that integrates social enterprise, environmental awareness and civic engagement with ‘regular’ education.”

According to FLA, youth in the Middle East and developing regions continue to make up approximately one-fifth of the total population at 20.5 per cent.

These statistics imply that it is imperative that leadership principles are brought in at an early age, whether in classrooms or outside them, to curb the growth of unemployment and create young future leaders, the academy stated.

Sage is an organization that encourages teenagers to create commercial and social entrepreneurial ventures on their school campuses, and is now active in seven US states and 19 countries.
 
Commenting on the social venture, Aman Merchant, FLA founder and chief emagination officer said, 'The vast majority of educational systems globally are too focused on academic education rather than what we term holistic education, and are seriously falling short on preparing 21st century citizens.'

'Having launched FLA in the UAE, our target for 2015 is to create one million young future leaders across the region. We want to develop today’s children and youth to become the responsible and confident leaders of tomorrow,.' he stated.

The Academy, he said, targets young people from 3 to 24 years of age and will work as a leadership and learning 'open-source platform' offering a unique multi-tiered leadership potential accelerator built around three core concepts – Lead, Think and Impact.

“The FLA is looking forward to working with parents and communities, educational institutes, educators, government entities, corporations and skilled professionals to launch and deliver varied initiatives,” Merchant added.

As a start-off corporate social responsibility initiative, the FLA said it will use up to 10 per cent of its revenues to subsidise the cost of participation for those children who may not be able to afford the fees, but are extremely motivated to join the Academy.-TradeArabia News Service