NEP 2.0

Health, education, and social inclusion can all be enhanced through sports. Evidence reveals that organized exercise activities promote character traits such as tolerance, respect and resilience, especially in children. The UN acknowledges the role of sports in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Goal 3, “Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-Being for All at All Ages”, and Goal No. 5 on women empowerment. 

Afra knows about the impact of sport on being goal-oriented. She is first and foremost an athlete, and she has turned her passion for the sector into a career as a Sport Coordinator at Dubai Prosecution and Dubai Sports Council. “Based on my experience, there comes a time in one's life to make a decision of where and what you want to be in the future, a decision of initiating a practical life that could only be built with specialization, capacity building and growing within a specific field.” 

She believes that sports and the soft power of sports diplomacy can be a springboard for much bigger goals, and she aspires to apply the lessons she learns in the National Experts Program to expand the impact of sports in the UAE. “I aspire to raise people's awareness through practice, by setting up specially designed programs and reward systems based on the participant's growth and achievements. But I also intend to utilize sport internationally as a soft power that contributes to the UAE’s soft diplomacy.”