The International Youth Foundation has announced a partnership with Hilton Worldwide and the King Khalid Foundation to launch a job skills initiative in Saudi Arabia.

Developed by IYF, the Passport to Success program aims to engage and prepare Saudi youth for careers in the hospitality industry by providing technical and practical training and boosting their employability, confidence, and life skills. The program will focus on four core areas — personal development, problem-solving skills, healthy lifestyles, and workplace success.

To ensure that the program is culturally relevant, IYF is developing in-house trainers to offer the program in hotels and will provide the curriculum and trainers to other Saudi institutions, including universities and vocational centers that work with young people.

"[W]e are in a unique and compelling position to take the industry lead with this program for a number of reasons," said Mahmoud Mokhtar, Hilton Worldwide's vice president of operations in Saudi Arabia. "First, we want to play our part in supporting the government's Saudization policy to assist and promote the employment of local youth in the private sector. In addition, the importance of travel and tourism is now widely recognized as a key driver in boosting and diversifying the Saudi economy....[W]e believe that we are in a position to empower ambitious young Saudis with the know-how and expertise to pursue a career in hospitality with the most recognized hotel company in the world."

"Educators, employers, and policy makers are finding that for young people to succeed they need an educational foundation which, in addition to technical skills, includes life and employability skills as a way to prepare them to be motivated and confident decision makers who can overcome adversity and realize their potential," said Princess Banderi bint Abdulrahman AlFaisal, speaking on behalf of the King Khalid Foundation. "The introduction of this initiative to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a very positive step and one that will not only make a great difference to young Saudis but also to our society as a whole."