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DUBAI: TikTok announced the winners of its inaugural Creator Hub Awards for the UAE and Egypt at a ceremony in Dubai on Wednesday.

The program, which was launched in September, aims to identify talented creators and connect them with the right mentors and skill-building experts, to support and nurture their skills.

The annual competition required creators to produce a creative content idea around a specific theme. This year’s theme was climate change, inspired by the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference of Parties — COP27 — held in Egypt in November.

It also aligns with TikTok’s launch of the #ClimateAction program in support of COP27 in the MENA region. The campaign encourages TikTok users to join the climate conversation and take actions that have a positive impact on the planet.

“We decided to launch this in Egypt and the UAE because the COP27 will be taking place in both those areas the current and next year,” Tarek Abdalla, regional general manager, TikTok Middle East, Africa, Turkiye, Pakistan and South Asia, told Arab News.

Five winners were chosen for their creative ability to raise awareness of this year’s theme through an informative TikTok video: Anfal Saheb, Aya Shiha, Deema Naser, Kareem Abdel Samad and Rabih Takkoush.

Naser, who loves content creation, said: “To be able to use a platform that I use daily to create positive social change to me was already an honor, but to have created a video that won the MENA Creator Hub Award too was incredible.”

For Takkoush, winning the award gave him “a boost of confidence to create and share more content.”

He added: “Wait till you see us creators collaborating together.”

Similarly, Abdel Samad enjoyed the collaborative experience and meeting other creators. “It was lovely getting to know all their stories and their passions in life, and awesome to see that we all share one common thing, which is the love for creating content and actually making a change through what we do,” he said.

Every year, the TikTok MENA Creator Hub program will draw up a chosen theme for creators to produce a creative content idea around a specific topic. It aims to provide creators with the knowledge needed to inspire and guide them through their professional careers.

“TikTok is a very easy tool to create and spread content and messages; we are pleased to be able to start conversations on important societal topics and be able to include anyone in the conversation,” Abdalla said.