JEDDAH — Some of the Kingdom's young people have joined a cultural exchange program that aims at giving them the opportunity to share and gain more practical knowledge. During the initial trips of the program, called "Direction Tour — Knowledge/Culture Exchange Program", several topics will be discussed, including women's empowerment, social responsibility, youth development, volunteering values and leadership. The chairman of the program's board, Shadi Khawandanah, said: "Direction," the social responsibility arm of the Special Direction Group, is developing and operating a lot of supportive programs for the youth of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman honored us with the King Khalid award for responsible competitiveness last December." The initiative targets young Saudis and Arabs and aims to develop their skills and increase their capacities and invest in their societies. "The entry is open for everybody and we have our selection and screening criteria to choose the best candidates in every program," Khawandanah said. The program is sponsored by Direction; however, the participants partially share in the cost of their trips. He added that by creating smart groups and including them in the thought process, and visiting the key international bodies worldwide creates a dynamic dialogue with counterparts to exchange cultures. The current trip started on March 9 and will continue until March 16, with 16 Saudis involved. The participants will have the chance to visit several nongovernmental organizations in Switzerland, France and Italy, including the United Nations in Geneva, to discuss the topic of managing a crisis when it comes to social change. They will also visit the World Trade Organization to discuss managing financial crises, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to discuss managing human crises. "In the past 10 years, Direction handled hundreds of social and volunteering projects for universities, business centers, national committees and chambers. This year, we decided to create the exchange program to accelerate the beneficial value of knowledge and culture exchange for the youth. Our team came with different ideas and voted for this unique approach," Khawandanah said. He said the initiative focuses on practical knowledge, outside of lectures and textbooks, implementable knowledge that can create an impact. Several other tours will be available this year, including a trip to German in May focused on strategic planning.
