- Message from Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on the occasion of International Youth Day 2025
Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Chairperson (Dubai Culture), emphasized the ability of youth to transform the world in a positive manner. On International Youth Day 2025, Her Highness expressed that it was important that the youth be given the required motivational support to produce a concrete difference within their individual communities as well as the world in general.
Her Highness brought home that there is something special in the manner in which young people navigate the world, provoking a wonder what can be accomplished, reminding everyone of their own initial experiences with possibility.
The young people, Her Highness added, might not always proclaim their influence, but it is done in subtle yet profound ways, by disrupting a routine, rethinking a procedure, or presenting an idea no one considered. Through their imagination, natural facility as communicators, and cooperative ethos, the young people are reframing progress to become more inclusive, innovative, and attuned to the challenges the world presents, she added.
This year’s International Youth Day theme, ‘Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond,’ is what already exists in the UAE and elsewhere, Her Highness stated. “Young people interact with this world in a unique fashion. I am struck by the energy I witness in their eyes and by the openness to curiosity and the love of exploration that defines them.”. The impact that they create is evident in their innovative concepts, daring new visions, and their capacity to defy the norm,” Her Highness concluded.
Sheikha Latifa explained further that, all over the UAE, young people are turning global problems into local possibilities, interweaving hope into policy and progress into the texture of daily experience. A student-conceived climate solution, a coding initiative in a neighborhood, or a community arts program are examples, which provide evidence that innovation, when rooted in empathy, can change systems from the bottom up, she noted.
She remembered how His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who had put unshakeable faith in her own inherent potential just as she had seen the potential in the youth of the UAE, once stated: “Our value in life is defined by what we do.” On International Youth Day, she said she saw that same spirt reflected in the youth of the UAE, in their boldness to act, their creativity to dream, and their determination to create a better future, calling on one and all to listen to them, invest in them, and stand with them, knowing that when the youth lead, the world will surely advance.
