By Jamal Al-Dobahi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

ABU DHABI — At 25 years of age she is the youngest female minister in the world.

Shamma Al-Mazrui was appointed as UAE’s Minister of State for Youth Affairs in Feb. 2016 at age 22, making her the youngest member of the UAE Cabinet and the youngest government minister in the world.

In an interview with Okaz/Saudi Gazette, she described the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 as very ambitious and based on harnessing the youth’s potential.

“This comprehensive developmental initiative is the result of ideas by youthful leaders who believe in the capability of the youth and are keen to enhance their participation in supporting the march of the Kingdom’s advancement and prosperity in all fields,” she said.

Al-Mazrui stressed the need to create a joint regional initiative to infuse hope among the youth, empower them and improve their status.

She said Misk Foundation is one of the most prominent foundations that strive to empower the youth.

“We are extremely happy to cooperate with the Foundation in the exchange of experience and expertise, and working on many joint initiatives and projects to build a creative generation, successful business leaders and entrepreneurs by providing incubators for the youths’ innovations and their creative ideas.”

Al-Mazrui said, “We have a media initiative for the Arab youth that aims to build a system to enable the Arab youth to become pioneers in the various media fields and specializations.

“The objective is to prepare a generation of qualified young men and women in the media field in line with the highest standards that include transparency and professionalism.”