* Pupilar, a Middle Eastern, youth-oriented professional network platform created by Maimuna Rashid and Aqsa Khalifa was released last year. The platform was built with the goal of redirecting social networking habits into building successful careers. Rashid called it a "transformed LinkedIn for youth". Pupilar is different from other jobhunting platforms as it focuses on skills rather than social backgrounds for the next generation of intellects. The platform initially targets the 1.3 million inhabitants of the UAE, with the goal of later expanding across the Middle East and North Africa.

* Air Products, a world leader in industrial gases, launched Female Engineers and Technical Associates, a unique program to enable progression and career development of female talent in KSA. Participants of the program will experience a range of tailored job rotations, hands-on learning as well as professional and technical development opportunities within Air Products. This program acts as a contribution to Vision 2030. Air Products also announced a financial contribution to Education for Employment, the leading non-profit organization connection youth in the MENA region to the world of work.

* Orange Corners and AstraZeneca have announced a new partnership to support youth in Jordan and the Palestinian territories. The aim to create an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs. AztraZeneca will provide funding to the program through its Young Health Programme, a holistic and integrated community investment programme focused on connecting adolescents to health and wellbeing. AstraZeneca will also participate in OC's mentorship programme, offering support for young entrepreneurs. Orange Corners aim to improve job prospects for youth between the ages of 18 and 35 in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. OCs stimulate the entrepreneurial mindset of young people. It offers incubation, acceleration, access to finance, education and training, support for policy development and business challenges. Rami Scandar, Country President for the Near East and the Maghreb Cluster at AstraZeneca said that Jordan and the Palestinian territories have some of the youngest and best educated populations in the world, and so they hope to provide young entrepreneurs with the support and opportunities they need to grow, with access to a network of expertise and experience, helping them develop their innovative ideas into thriving businesses.

* Injaz Al-Arab, which has been operating for over 20 years across the MENA region, is teaming up with TikTok to use social media to open pathways to promoting job opportunities of some of the world's biggest companies in fast-emerging fields such as artificial intelligence. The 'Are you Future Ready?' campaign features 10 videos on tiktok from expert companies. The initiative is aimed at young people in the Arab world, with a focus on those in conflicted-areas.

* Orange Jordan launched a new Orange Digital Center in the German Jordanian University in collaboration with GIZ with the goal of developing the skills necessary for youth for employment. This comes as a step for the Orange Digital Center project that aims at expanding the reach of Orange Digital Centers in the kingdom by providing free courses in programming and such.

* Adam Bradford Agency in association with Dan Bolton Agency for Creative Management and British Business Group in Dubai invited all creative youth no older than 35 years old to participate in a competition that aims to support and encourage youth entrepreneurs. Based on its success last year, the competition Inspiring Future's goal is to support youth entrepreneurs and new ideas and help build and support them in their ability to make a difference globally. Participants have the opportunity to participate in workshops and classes hosted by notable figures in the world that will help them turn their ideas into reality. After the classes are done, they participants are asked to present their ideas in front of a jury.

* Director General of the Public Authority for Youth, Dr. Mishaal Al-Shaheen Al-Rabee, affirmed that Kuwait has achieved concrete performance visions in the field of youth empowerment. This came in the words of Al-Rabee, on the sidelines of the United Nations regional meeting held in Jordan, with the participation of officials from governments, the private sector, non-profit organizations and youth groups from the Arab region, and in the presence of the Kuwaiti embassy. During the meeting, he stressed the commitments made by Kuwait towards its youth in the government's development plan. This included supporting high school graduates in their undergraduate education and managing human resources through education. He stated that during the past three years, 1,500 job opportunities were created for young people thanks to the Kuwaiti project "Work Makers".