Taweel, Vice-Chairperson of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation (right), accepts a memento after inaugurating Tawteen 2012 Event in Riyadh, Wednesday. — SG RIYADH – Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, Vice-Chairperson of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, inaugurated here Wednesday the Tawteen 2012 Event which is aimed at supporting young nationals and contributing to the elimination of unemployment. The program supports government initiatives as well as the efforts of non-profit organizations and the private sector to enable young Saudis to enter the labor market at all levels of education. It also works to create modern jobs in line with the current advancement of Saudi society and contributes to the process of creating qualified nationals. “There will be 13 exhibitions in a span of three years and we have inaugurated the first that will run for three days,” said Princess Ameerah. “One of the Foundation's ultimate goals is significantly advancing Saudi youth employment. This initiative began two months ago with the Foundation's support of the Ministry of Labor's unemployment awareness campaign followed by the second phase with the support of the Tawteen exhibition,” she said. In December 2011, Alwaleed Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Labor supported the nine-month “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Unemployment Awareness TV Campaign”. The SR10 million campaign is running on three Rotana Channels: Rotana Khalijia, Rotana Cinema and Fox Movies. The Awareness TV Campaign is aligned with Alwaleed Foundation's long term commitment to solving the unemployment issue. In line with the government's initiative towards Saudization and improving the employment rate for its citizens, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Prince Alwaleed currently has 93 percent Saudi employees. The campaign aims to transform the mindsets of the audience by highlighting some of the causes of unemployment in Saudi society in its messages, such as the lack of trust in the ability of female employees to join the private sector, corporations not tapping into or recognizing Saudi talent, the stigma attached to blue color jobs, the lack of investment in the Saudi workforce and training programs, as well as, Saudi youth's lack of confidence in their ability to climb up the corporate ladder.
