Mar
08
2019
By communications
AMIDEAST is proud to join in today’s celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD).
In our drive to foster educational and training opportunities for communities across the Middle East and North Africa, AMIDEAST has supported and implemented diverse programs to promote women’s empowerment in the region. Here are some of ways in which women have benefited from our work:
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| Bahrain – In late 2018, AMIDEAST implemented an entrepreneurship training workshop for businesswomen in Bahrain. The program, which was sponsored in partnership with Boeing Middle East, covered topics relevant to supporting the professional goals of the Bahraini female entrepreneurs who attended. | Morocco – Through the Dakhla Learning Center in Morocco, underprivileged young women are engaging in sports, one of a variety of activities through which the center is inspiring a passion for social change among youth and transforming it into positive action. Altogether, 15 community projects were implemented with 300 participants and 1,000 beneficiaries! AMIDEAST is proud to work with the Dakhla Learning Center to support skills training and development efforts in Morocco. Learn more about their innovative community service projects here. |
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| Egypt – Participating in AMIDEAST/Egypt and Citi Foundation’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP), art students and entrepreneurs Sara, Tasneem, and Farah were able to take their wall art business Jidar to the next level. Jidar connects companies to artists who develop customized murals and art installations for those organizations to express their brand and connect with clients. You can see more of our participating entrepreneurs discuss the impact that YEP had on their businesses here. | Palestine – Through our partnership with the Taawon Association, AMIDEAST is beginning new Bridge Palestine groups in both the West Bank and Gaza. The three-year program will help high-achieving Palestinian students prepare to enroll in internationally recognized universities through extensive academic training. |
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| Iraq – After participating in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Iraqi alumnus Atheer Al Attar was inspired to develop a program to help young students learn the basics of coding and robotics. With the help of a Fulbright Alumni Community Action Grant, he officially launched his program, Kids and Codes in 2015, with the aim of encouraging more children, especially girls, to pursue STEM subjects. You can read more about Atheer’s work here. | Saudi Arabia – AMIDEAST and the Citi Foundation recently launched our Skills for Success®: Employability Program in Saudi Arabia! Over the course of a year and a half, the program will train 72 young Saudi women in the skills and knowledge needed to compete for jobs. They will then use the experience gained from the program to mentor an additional 1,500 youth in Riyadh through “pay-it-forward” workshops. You can learn more about the program here. |
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| Jordan – 40 Jordanian alumni of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program recently gathered for an Innovation Workshop organized by AMIDEAST in Amman. Together they took part in activities focused on team building, communication, leadership, and creativity. They also engaged in meaningful discussions about the cultural differences they encountered during their exchange years and how they can utilize those experiences to develop innovative service projects at home. Workshops like these, organized through our AMIDEAST field offices, are one of the ways our YES alumni, both men and women, are empowered to continue engaging their communities and building cultural bridges even after their exchange year in the U.S. | Tunisia – The Diana Kamal Scholarship Search Fund (DKSSF) opens doors to higher education in the U.S. for talented, but underserved students in the MENA region. Tunisian DKSSF scholar Nour Benmohamed is studying math and computer science at Dartmouth University and will complete an internship at Google this summer. Outside of class, she is active in the Ledyard Canoe Club and an organizing member of the university’s student-run hackathon, HackDartmouth. “My life is this eventful thanks to you and I will forever be grateful for this amazing opportunity you have given me,” she recently told AMIDEAST. |
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| Kuwait – AMIDEAST/Kuwait Country Director Samar Khleif (center) and Corporate Communications Manager Rasha Zalzala recently attended the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative’s "Ring the Bell" ceremony to promote women’s economic empowerment in Kuwait. The event aimed to emphasize the role of the private sector in advancing gender equality and raise awareness of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). We are proud to have taken part in this ceremony and to contribute to women’s empowerment across the MENA region through our educational and training programs. | UAE – AMIDEAST and Citi Foundation’s Skills for Success program is underway in Al Ain in the UAE, working to help these young women develop the knowledge, skills, and experience that will help them find meaningful work. |
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| Lebanon – In 2014, Mariam Haidar participated in the Arab Women's Entrepreneurship Project (AWEP), an AMIDEAST partnership with Citi Foundation. That experience was a turning point for her, leading her to launch Edutek, an educational hub that introduces students in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley to STEAM skills. Her innovative project demonstrates just how essential it is to invest in women and youth, empowering them to develop the technical skills needed in the modern economy. Read more about her story here. | Yemen – Through the Yemen Youth Restoring Hope Project, also known as the Nahdhat Shabab Project, AMIDEAST is empowering Yemeni youth — both women and men — with skills that will enable them to contribute to the rebuilding of Yemen. The employability, vocational, and professional skills that young women are learning are opening doors for them. As trainee Maha noted, “The project gave me skills that make me count in my community." |
