The State of Qatar and Denmark, in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office on Youth, organized a special session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to launch the report of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action under the title "Igniting Hope" which documents some innovative programming that puts the rights and needs of young people in front and centre stage and provides testimony on the ongoing transformation within member organizations of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action.

 In a speech at the session which organized at the initiative of the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and the Permanent Delegation of Denmark, Executive Director of Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Essa Al Mannai said that Qatar strongly believes in the importance of engaging young people in humanitarian work and in their pivotal role in drawing up prospects for their future.

 He said that Qatar's commitment to communicating with young people and enabling them to become agents of positive change is back to the International Summit hosted by the State of Qatar in 2015, which resulted in the Doha declaration on the formation of youth participation in Humanitarian Action, and was adopted by the Istanbul Summit in 2016.

 Al Mannai also stressed that addressing the many challenges faced by young people is one of the priorities of Qatar's national, regional and international policy.
 In this context, he referred to the State of Qatar's participation in sponsoring the first international conference on youth participation in peace operations to be held at the beginning of 2019 in Helsinki.

 Executive Director of ROTA, as a member of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action, also reviewed ROTA initiatives launched to enhance the capacities and skills of young people in volunteer humanitarian work in the Middle East and Asia.

 The session, which was also co-organized by the Major Group for Children and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), was an opportunity to review the achievements of the first 18 months of the adoption of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action, discuss challenges, propose innovative programs in humanitarian action and work to coordinate international policies, strategies and processes related to humanitarian relief operations and the promotion of effective youth participation.