Abdulwhab Mohammed Abdulwhab Ali

Abdulwhab grew up in Yemen with limited income, education, and a youth that was overshadowed by the Yemeni civil war – which not only created economic problems for his family but also prevented him from attending university. However, Abdulwhab eventually managed to obtain a diploma in English and take a number of training courses that were being offered by civil society organizations. This then allowed him to begin giving back to his community and helping young people deal with the difficulties and limited opportunities associated with living in a war zone.  

As a result, Abdulwhab has established many youth initiatives, the most important of which are the Yemeni Elite Bloc and the Youth Dialogue Diversity Forum. The latter is a forum comprising 200 entrepreneurs, community activists, young leaders and changemakers from various Yemeni governorates, with the aim of advancing the agenda of young men and women in building peace and community coexistence. Recently, Abdulwhab also established the Middle East Forum for Development and Peacebuilding, which aims to create joint action, regional cooperation, and new channels for young people from different regions to discuss problems and challenges facing their communities. 

Abdulwhab also contributes to the international conversation on these issues as the international coordinator of the Catalyst network for Yemen, as well as being a member of many international and local organizations including the TEDx platform, the Peace First organization, the Injaz platform, the Develop Your Community organization, and the Context organization for youth and development. He has participated in many international conferences, informing people from around the world about the most important issues, challenges and problems facing young people in Yemeni society. Abdulwhab has won a great deal of recognition for his efforts, including the Peace First Award, which he was given in virtue of his work on the Youth Dialogue Diversity Forum. 

If Abdulwhab wins the Global Student Prize 2023, he will use the funding to establish a centre for education and vocational training for young people, in order to build skills for unemployed young men and women who are unable to complete their education or who are affected by war. The centre will seek to empower them in fields such as entrepreneurship, management, marketing and strategic planning – which will help them build income-generating projects, reduce their exposure to violence, and enable them to engage in the labour market.