Mentor Arabia and Nahar Ashabab, a youth empowerment organization, held on 1 December 2006 a joint press conference to launch the youth health quarterly “Mishwar (Journey) Mentor Arabia”  and sign a Memorandum of Understanding providing for the development of quality prevention programs to empower youth with the skills and information to become agents of change in their communities. A similar agreement was signed between Mentor Arabia and Oum el Nour.

The first issue of "Mishwar Mentor Arabia" will be distributed with the December 4, 2008 issue of the Nahar Ashabab supplement.

Mentor Arabia’s Chairman HRH Prince Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, Annahar’s Deputy General Manager and Nahar Ashabab’s President Ms. Nayla Tueni, and Oum el Nour’s President Bishop Guy Boulos Njeim were all in attendance.

“We have a lot to do and we are many and we are here,” said Tueni in her address. “If Mentor Arabia’s signing today two cooperation agreements, the first with Nahar Ashabab and the second with Oum el Nour, we, at Annahar and Nahar Ashabab, see ourselves as partners in both projects. Not only do we support Mentor Arabia whose endeavors aim at raising the youth’s awareness of the dangers of drugs, we also support wholeheartedly His Eminence and all the Oum el Nour family. We’ve always strongly believed in man and dedicated Annahar to his service and that of Lebanon.”

Following in the footsteps of late MP Gebran Tueni, “who shouldered the troubles of youth”, she said Nahar Ashabab would also uphold that mission. “In our unity there’s strength and success,” she said. “Our common project is the beginning, and I promise you that we will go beyond the signed agreement to turn ‘Mishwar Mentor Arabia’ into an outstanding periodical to honor the Lebanese youth and Gebran, who loved them and who paid a hefty price so that they could remain free in a free country.”

Bishop Njeim: "Love consists in looking together in the same direction."

For his part, Bishop Njeim said that society’s most important and hardest responsibility was for people to work together for the good of mankind. “If we were to speak of a righteous civilization, the real and perhaps most accurate measure is people’s efficiency in sensing the spread of the drug scourge in their societies, their compassion for the pain of their brothers, sisters and families who fell victim to this humiliating plague, that kills both body and soul.”

He added: “We are all the more pleased today because Mentor Arabia has demonstrated since its inception a profound dedication to work and a bold vision. We unquestionably embraced the initiative that resulted in its creation, led by HRH Prince Turki Bin Talal and the Trustees, who are the guarantors of that vision as well as the strength of the accomplishments.”

He stressed on the beauty of having one common purpose that ultimately serves the peace of mind, safety and growth of man.

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other,” he concluded, quoting famed French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “but in looking together in the same direction.”

HRH Prince Tuki Bin Talal: "Youth represent our most valuable wealth."

In his speech, HRH Prince Turki highlighted the defining challenges which the world is facing and which “call upon us to cooperate in action, not words to underline our best human values and work hand in hand for the good of the public. Our presence here today to launch a youth-oriented issue and to sign agreements with efficient institutions is an embodiment of this.”

He pointed out the rampant spread of drug use among Arab youth, “who represent our most valuable wealth and the future of our growth.” He noted that the age of onset of drug users is shifting to a younger age, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “This motivates us to join forces with concerned stakeholders to curtail drug demand, particularly among youth,” he said. “That’s why we’ve partnered with Nahar Ashabab to promote the concept of drug prevention, raise the youth’s awareness of the dangers of drugs, and foster positive alternatives in their lives to enable them to make informed decisions,” he concluded, underlining the equal importance of the cooperation with Oum el Nour, “whose name has always been linked with hope for a better tomorrow.”

The press conference wrapped with HRH Prince Turki Bin Talal signing the two Memoranda of Understanding with Nahar Ashabab and Oum el Nour.