After the success of the first competition entitled "Dream Neom," where three teams won financial awards and training opportunities in Neom, Mohammed Bin Salman Misk Foundation has launched the second session of Misk Fellowship Annual Competition last Tuesday, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy & Planning of Saudi Arabia, UNDP, and Bain & Company.

The competition was created to seek solutions for the challenges that hinder Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Kingdom. It is a step to support Saudi youth, develop the national creative capacities, and reinforce their sense of national responsibility. Therefore, the competition contributes to developing practical solutions that support the Kingdom`s new orientation and helps the youth realize the significance of their role in developing their country and leading its future.

Over 100 participants of young Saudi men and women from Misk fellows, who joined Human Capital Development programs, will work together to identify current challenges, find innovative solutions to overcome them, and leave behind a long-lasting and tangible impact.

Misk Fellowship Annual Competition consists of three main stages. It begins with a three-day virtual training program, followed by the initiation and development stage, and finally, the assessment stage where nominated projects are selected. These presented projects should include creative solutions for SDGs challenges in four areas: social challenges, economic challenges, environmental challenges, and empowerment factors. After that, participants will have a rich journey to guide them and help them to develop their ideas and visions.

Seventeen teams were nominated to work in the coming period with leaders of mentors and experts to develop their solutions and achievements until they reach the final stage, which will be held in mid October this year. It will include the final evaluation by the assessment committee and the selection of the winning projects that succeeded in making a positive impact. The winning projects will receive cooperative training opportunities with the partners.

Misk Human Capital Development program also works on preparing participants of youth and provide them with the required experience and skills to deal with the different developmental challenges. To achieve that, they will take various training courses delivered by specialists from the Ministry of Economy & Planning and UNDP as well as experts from Bain & Company which is one of the best management consulting companies in the world.

It should be noted that “Misk Fellowship” has been working since its launch in 2017 on discovering, developing, and building a Saudi youth network to compete globally, reinforce their of sense identity, and make a positive economic and social impact for Saudi Arabia.