General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare in UAE

The General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) is the UAE’s supreme state owned authority responsible for the welfare of youth and sports activities in the United Arab Emirates. It also oversees a number of institutions and centers working on the improvement and supervision of youth in the seven Emirates of the country.

The establishment of the GAYSW

Since the foundation of the UAE in 1971 and then, the political leadership of the country paid a great attention to youth and sports sector by improving and instutionalizing such sector in view of the utmost importance of youth and sports sector in countries’ development. In 1971, the UAE’s Ministry of Youth and Sports was founded and headed by H.E Rashid Bin Hamid Al Shamsi until 1976 when the Ministry of Youth and Sports was merged under the Ministry of Education. By 1999, the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare was set up and Ali Abdul-Aziz Al Sharhan, the then Minister of Education, was appointed as the chairman of the Authority. In 2006, the chairmanship of the GAYSW was shifted to Abdurrahman Bin Mohamed Al Owais, the Minister of culture, youth and Community development, who served in this position until 2013 when Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan has chaired the authority.

Missions and roles of the GAYSW

The UAEGAYSW is responsible for providing an attractive environment for Emirati young people, including gifted and talented ones. The Authority works also on developing physical and mental abilities, taking advantage of leisure time, enhance UAE identity principles, loyalty, belonging as well as voluntary work sense among young people. The authority pays a great attention to sports development and to providing the appropriate environment for practitioners and work on the achievement of the best results regionally and internationally.

Responsibilities of the GAYSW

Youth sector

• Implementing government’s policy regarding Youth and making plans and projects for the achievement of such policies. • Supervise Youth bodies (including Scouts/Guides) and follow up and support their activities and evaluate their performance. • Set up male and female Youth centers and distribute them throughout the country on a geographic and population basis. • Coordinate and cooperate with the National and International competent authorities through partnership agreements and memorandums of understanding.

Sports sector

• Implement the government’s policy on competitive, recreational and traditional Sports, and make plans and projects for the execution of such policies. • Spread the culture of Sports among the UAE social categories, to become “a way of life” and enable to fight against related diseases. •Achieve outstanding results and represent the UAE regional, continental and international sportive events. •Take the necessary measures in favor of disabled people and women in sports activities.

Institutions and centers of the GAYSW

The UAEGAYSW oversees a number of its institutions including the eight youth centers in Sharjah Ajman and Alghail, girls’ centers in Oum al Qaïwaïn, AL Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Falaj Mualla and Marbah. Along with these centers, the GAYSW has youth associations and scientific clubs in cities like Al Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. Furthermore, the authority supervises the sportive councils in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and sportive committees, associations and federations in the country.