Emirates Foundation seeks to improve financial literacy among youths

More than 100 Emiratis between 25 and 35 years of age will be trained to conduct programmes to educate youths across the UAE.

Emirates Foundation has launched the Esref Sah Shabaab Club for Emirati youths to educate their peers about financial literacy.

It will select and train more than 100 Emiratis between 25 and 35 years of age to conduct programmes to educate youths across the UAE. Baizat, a UAE financial awareness organisation, will facilitate the three-month training and mentoring of Shabaab Club members.“Empowering youths with the tools to become financially self-sufficient cannot be underestimated,” said Maytha Al Habsi, the chief programmes officer at Emirates Foundation.

About 70 per cent of young Emiratis are in debt, according to statistics from the Emirates Foundation.

The organisation said that youths spent three times more on fashion than their expatriate Arab and Asian peers.For every Dh100 that they spent, about 40 per cent was spent on clothes and 35 per cent on mobile phones.

The workshops and educational events will be conducted in workplaces, schools and universities. They aim to promote discussion and educate Emiratis about the fundamentals of personal finance.

The first trial workshops are set to take place in Abu Dhabi in November.

“This initiative will tackle a major challenge we have when financially empowering the UAE population, which is communicating the message to a large audience in an effective, personal and sustainable manner,” said Salah Al Halyan, the founder of Baizat.

“With a major focus on reaching youth in educational institutions, we can guide the next generation to be financially secure.”​

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