The 12^th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness was held in Dubai , UAE from 14^th to 18^th July. This conference is held every two years and this was the first time that it was held in the Middle East . Held under the patronage of HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Finance Minister , this conference was hosted by the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for the Distinguished Academic Performance which is also partnered by UNESCO.

THIS WAS THE FIRST SUCH CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN THE ENTIRE ARABIAN GULF EVER.

The Children & Youth conference which was an integral part of this summit brought together the most brilliant , gifted and intelligent minds, between ages 9 and 18.

Almost 570 children attended this unique summit with participants ranging from Korea, Thailand, China, Singapore , Hongkong, Taiwan , Saudi Arabia , Kuwait, Jordan , Lebanon and other Asian nations . The criteria of selection was not just the work that the children had done in various fields such as environment , social , education but also their giftedness and brilliance. To test this , there was a special IQ test and only the best and top minds got through . I was the only expatriate girl from the entire UAE and India who met the criteria and was selected to attend this conference which was held for the first time in my country of residence,UAE .

The opening ceremony on 14^th July was a grand affair and was inaugurated by His Highness Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. HE Humaid Al Qutami , UAE Minister of Education too spoke at the opening . The guest of honour was Malaysian First Lady Mrs. Datin Mansour who congratulated and thanked the UAE for hosting this conference for the first time in this region.

Even though I am a resident of Dubai , all participants had to stay together in the hotels booked for the conference delegates which was great fun. The arrangements were absolutely magnificent , as it usually is here in Dubai , and the all participants were unanimous in their praise.

Over the next 5 days , we ,children & youth , took part in various workshops on arts & crafts , leadership , writing , wildlife , peace, environment & sustainability. One of the main themes was how important education is for sustainable development and also the importance of gifted children ,who are at the forefront of society in terms mental capacity, to be leaders in this initiative.

The largest contingent of gifted children, 105 in number , came from Korea. I shared with them my wonderful experience at the 2012 GYEF conference in Seoul , which I had been invited to attend in my capacity as the only winner from the Middle East on environmental advocacy.

As the propagator of Rio legacy in this region , I shared my Earth Summit experiences with all the delegates and shared my projects on sustainability, conservation and green economy with them. I formed a core team with members from all participating countries and we will now work together on various projects.

I was also chosen as one of the finalists of the ?young writer?s workshop?.

The conference was also full of fun and every afternoon there were different activities and field trips. These  included visits to ?SPACETOON? studios which is the region?s largest cartoon channel , where we learnt about animation and graphics. The delegates also visited the tallest tower in the world , Burj Khalifa , and were taken to the highest observatory in the world . A visit was also arranged to the world?s largest bookstore , Book World by Kinokuniya.

The Children and Youth conference succeeded completely in its aim to develop creative & critical thinking, problem solving and team work - all skills relevant to the 21st century world issues and challenges on SDG. The highlight of the conference was the keynote delivered by Prof. Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

This was by far the biggest international children & youth conference held in the UAE and it was such an honour to be the only TUNZA Ecogeneration ambassador and the only student of my school and the Emirates Environmental Group to qualify for this conference.