Washington, DC, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Morocco, November 14, 2011—The American non-profit education organization AMIDEAST and the Citi Foundation—Citi's philanthropic arm—today announced the launch of the Arab Women's Entrepreneurship Project (AWEP) in four countries: Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and the UAE.  This initiative, which will be launched in November, aims to provide 80 female entrepreneurs from underserved backgrounds with training that will help them start a new business or expand an existing one.

As the first country to recognize the United States, Morocco traces its friendship to America’s earliest days. In recent years, this longstanding relationship has entered into a new phase, flourishing in the area of commerce as a result of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but also as increased travel and communication have drawn the two countries closer.

As part of the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, which met in Washington, DC, in mid April, Safwan Masri, Director of Columbia University’s Middle East Center in Amman, and Katherine Wilkens, AMIDEAST Vice President for Communications, co-chaired a Working Group on Higher Education in the Arab World. The group brought together a distinguished group of educators, specialists, and public sector officials from the United States and the Middle East to review the current state of higher education in the region and consider the key challenges facing reform today. Discussions over the three-day conference, which was held April 12–14, 2011, focused on three key challenges: Quality, Governance, and Educational Outcomes for Development.

A new training initiative, developed in partnership with OCP Groupe, is focused on addressing the difficult problem of youth unemployment in Morocco.  Young people in Morocco are particularly vulnerable to chronic unemployment.   One out of three youth between the ages 15 and 24 in Morocco’s urban areas is unemployed, but the highest unemployment figures are found among high school and college graduates, reaching a rate of nearly 60 per cent.  Moreover, nearly eight out of 10 youth ages 15-24 have never worked or have been out of work for a year or longer; and the longer these youth remain outside the workforce, the harder it is for them to break out of this vicious cycle.

Nada Rehan (left) from the West Bank is excited that her dreams of study in the United States are coming true.

Growing up in a refugee camp in the West Bank, Nada Rehan faced limited opportunities for higher education. The bright young Palestinian woman had excelled in her studies and stood out for her energetic leadership in youth community service activities. But “there was no way for me to go to college ... because my parents cannot afford it,” says Nada. Today, though, the high school senior is thrilled to have received an “amazing” scholarship from Mt.  Holyoke College, making her college dreams come true.

Tourism workers acquire language and cross-cultural communication skills that will help them ultimately provide better customer satisfaction.

 Just as spring semester was starting for the 53 American undergraduates enrolled in AMIDEAST programs in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, events intervened to give them a lesson in history that they’ll never forget. 

Washington, DC, March 30, 2010 — AMIDEAST is pleased to announce the launch of a scholarship initiative that will enable more American college students to live and study in the Arab world. Beginning this summer, the new AMIDEAST Arab Heritage Fund Scholarship Program will provide a limited number of need-based scholarships for participants in AMIDEAST’s summer, semester, and academic-year study abroad programs in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco.

“The workshop presents a great opportunity to meet diverse people, whether fellow participants, facilitators, or guest speakers," observed Layal Roumani (far right).

“Vision is not only creativity or a dream; it is how you make that dream come true,” Lebanese entrepreneur Nadim Saikali advises aspiring entrepreneurs in a training program recently launched in Lebanon.