Why Should we Create an Industry of Hope?

An industry of Hope. Though it’s a short, four-word phrase, its power is infinite. Hope builds nations when it is present and destroys others when it is absent.  

In the UAE, Hope is an industry in itself that has significant value. Equal to the industries of energy, tourism, education, health, media, etc. we are building, nurturing and growing the industry of Hope. We see enormous growth in this industry and massive potential for it to scale across the region and worldwide. One might ask, what is the market size of this industry? It is 7.8 billion individuals, the population of our earth. 

In the UAE, several initiatives were launched to make hope a positive reality. A prominent annual one is the Arab Hope Makers initiative, which celebrated its third round recently, attracting entries from over 92,000 humanitarian projects across 38 countries worldwide.

While we wanted to gather 20,000 stories of hope from around the region when the initiative was first launched, the total number of participants has exceeded 150,000 over three years, leaving remarkable outcomes in the Arab region.

Hope is the first and foremost guide to illuminate our youth’s path towards a better future

The great majority of our Arab region’s population is made up of young people. Its future lies in their dreams, hopes, ambitions, and achievements.

Our utmost goal is to strengthen our youth’s capabilities and determination to face and change the reality of the Arab world, which is suffering from division, conflict, political and economic instability, and the highest regional youth unemployment rate in the world. That is, real change starts with an individual effort. 

In 2015 alone, the economic impact of war and violence on the global economy was $13.6 trillion. Violence had a huge cost both on human and financial levels, especially in the Middle East, a hotspot for war and conflict, which has of course seen huge losses. We need to own the counter-narrative. We need to provide the alternative.

Hope is our sustainable weapon to fight negativity, despair and hopelessness in the Arab world.The industry of Hope has many profits to offer to our Arab nations. It allows its people to turn challenges into opportunities and be creative in finding innovative, lasting solutions to key issues such as poverty and unemployment, through humanitarian projects and initiatives.

Our region needs hope makers who love to give and serve their communities, and who live to support a noble cause — those who will inspire new generations of hope makers seeking to build cohesive societies.

Amid all the challenges that surround our region, we have come to realise that Hope is the first and foremost guide to illuminate our youth’s way forward towards a better future.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “Hope is the most profitable business. It is the only business in the world where nobody can lose.”

Fifty years back, we designed the path that would deliver us to the future, and we made humanity and human development a key component of our vision. In our preparation plans for the next 50 years, we aim to position the UAE as the capital of Hope internationally, a mission that will help us in our development and growth journey. 

Giving back to humanity is our strategy, and our joined responsibility as Arab nations is to create new hope every day, making Hope a global industry. 

For hope, we live, build and thrive. The United Arab Emirates has great aspirations to extend its role to become a beacon of Hope not only in the region but also in the world.