A Ceremony Announcing the Winners of the 2016 Youth Entrepreneurship Competition

The Modern University for Business and Science (MUBS), in cooperation with the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut, held for the fourth consecutive year a ceremony to announce the winners in the “Youth Entrepreneurship Competition for the year 2016”, at the UNESCO Palace, Beirut.

This competition aims at spurring the spirit of innovation and creativity among secondary-stage pupils in all public and private schools, by giving free rein to their imagination in designing small projects that contribute to building their capacities and strengthen their spirit of initiative.

The ceremony began with a speech by the president of the university's board of trustees Hatem Alami, who welcomed those present and thanked the judging panel of the Youth Entrepreneurship Competition, holding that “the partnership with the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut constituted a clear mark of the importance of the efforts made by the United Nations bodies and of the centre's shining imprint in shedding light on the paths that must be adopted”.

He added: “Our meeting today is an expression of eager hope in the face of the currents of despair and frustration, and the message of entrepreneurship in confrontation comes in the first trench. Entrepreneurship is a course in correcting the growing imbalance between young people's capacities and the paucity of opportunities and the repercussions of despair and flight into the unknown. It is thereby an enormous challenge before the university journey. Entrepreneurship is the essence of the project of confronting the absence of development, where our politicians keep away from the foxes of neglect, poverty and ignorance and avoid the wolves of terrorism lying in wait for our chance at a dignified life.”

Thirteen schools took part in this ceremony: Qarnayel Official High School, Zahia Kaddoura Official School for Girls, Chakib Arslan Official High School, the Baptist School in Beirut, the Modern Palace of Culture High School, Makassed Ali Bin Abi Talib, Al-Hadi Institution for Hearing and Visual Impairment and Language and Communication Disorders, the Choueifat Technical School, the Orthodox Annunciation School Beirut, Abdallah Al-Alayli High School for Girls, Damour Official High School, Zahia Salman Official Mixed School, and Bissour Official High School.

The director of the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut Margo Helou affirmed “that empowering young people requires joint efforts from all the components of society, including the official and the unofficial, alongside the United Nations, whose work is concentrated on creating the environments suited to meeting young people's needs by promoting entrepreneurship and spurring them to establish small and medium enterprises”.

In this framework she pointed out that “the General Assembly of the United Nations issued in 2012 a resolution concerning entrepreneurship for development in the developing countries, which urges the promotion of the spirit of initiative and the encouragement of young businesspeople to establish their own commercial businesses”.

She said: “It is necessary to remove all obstacles from before young people, especially the bureaucratic ones, which will contribute to strengthening their resolve and thereby bringing about the required change.”

The pupils presented 14 projects selected in the first stage, and a judging panel undertook to choose the best three.

First place went to the project “Golden Basket”, through which waste can be automatically separated according to its nature by means of sensors, lights and sounds, from the school of Al-Hadi Institution for Hearing and Visual Impairment and Language and Communication Disorders. The first prize consists of a sum of 1,000 US dollars in addition to a university scholarship of up to 40 per cent should the winning students join the Modern University for Business and Science to continue their university studies.

Second place went to the project “Garbage to Energy”, which converts rubbish into biogas by using a high temperature in an oxygen-free environment, from Qarnayel Official High School. The second prize consists of a sum of 700 US dollars in addition to a university scholarship of up to 35 per cent should the winning students join the Modern University for Business and Science to continue their university studies.

As for third place, it went to the team of the project “Pico Pi”, which is a package designed to help students display their lectures on a screen, or those who love cinema to show films easily by using the concept of connecting a Raspberry Pi directly to the battery, from Zahia Salman Official Mixed School. This team received a sum of 500 US dollars in addition to a university scholarship of up to 30 per cent should the winning students join the Modern University for Business and Science to continue their university studies.

The judging panel, along with the president of the university's board of trustees Hatem Alami, presented the prizes to the three teams, in addition to certificates of appreciation to all the participating schools and team members.

The judging panel was composed of the director general of the Ministry of Education Fadi Yarak, the deputy governor of the Bank of Lebanon Saad Andari, the director general of the “Kafalat” institution Khater Abi Habib, the executive director at “Berytech” Nicolas Rouhana, the executive director of the “Injaz” association Faiza Saad Mhanna, and the director of the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut Margo Helou.