AMIDEAST has implemented a number of major projects directed at improving institutional capacity in Egypt -- particularly in the areas of legal and judiciary services and educational outcomes.

Judicial Reform

Two key Administration of Justice Support Projects (AOJS) sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development over a thirteen year period between 1996 and 2009 focused on enhancing the capacity of the civil courts and judicial education in Egypt.  The second phase of AOJS emphasized strengthening the administrative capacity of the National Center for Judical Studies, the Judicial Information Center and the Ministry of Justice, as well as providing training to lawyers, judges, administrators, and legal educators.

The Legal Rights Project provided training and scholarships to Egyptian legal professional to improve jurist proficiency in legal English to enhance their ability to participate in international professional seminars on international judicial reform and rule-of-law forums; and to broaden the discourse among Egyptian jurists on legal rights issues and their political contexts.

Education

AMIDEAST has also worked in various capacities to implement programs designed to improve teacher quality in Egypt. From 1998 to 2004, AMIDEAST was subcontracted by the American University in Cairo to provide English language training to senior teachers and supervisors from urban and rural school districts in Egypt as part of the English Language Testing and Training (ELTT) project, a USAID-sponsored program to improve education in public schools. In 2001, over 150 Egyptian educators from villages near Minya, Beni Suef and Fayoum participated in ELTT classes. From 2002 to 2004, the project focused on school reform in disadvantaged areas of Alexandria, training 200 administrators, teachers and community leaders. The program helped participants develop the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills needed to participate in short- and long-term technical training in the United States and elsewhere. The program changed significantly in 2004, and since then, AMIDEAST has worked closely with USAID Technical Assistance Contractors (TACs) to conduct training needs assessments to determine the human capacity requirements of the Egyptian partner institutions. AMIDEAST, with input from the USAID TACs and partner institutions, is developing ELT training plans to address those needs and to improve individual and institutional performance. At the same time, the program is administering the CEPA and iBT TOEFL exams and providing registration services for university entrance exams including the GRE and GMAT.

From 1997 to 2003 AMIDEAST participated in the Integrated English Language Program (IELP) II, a U.S. Agency for International Development project focused on integrating language training with teacher professional development and improvement of curriculum.  As part of IELP, AMIDEAST trained 15,000 professional Egyptian English teachers, providing them with pre-service and in-service training, teaching materials and technical training.