Celebrating International Women's Day 2023

Here are just a few of our recent programs that are using digital tools to elevate women and girls in the MENA region: 

• The SPARK Program (Young Women’s Innovation Program) introduced eighth-grade girls to design and critical thinking techniques as well as problem solving and teamwork, all crucial skills for STEM-related professions.
• The Yemeni Women Entrepreneurship Program (YWEP) is providing participating women entrepreneurs with the technical, essential, entrepreneurship and English language skills—as well as coaching and networking opportunities—they need to successfully launch and grow their businesses and becoming equal partners and leaders in their country’s economic recovery and public life.
• The Skills to Careers Initiative is helping Jordanian women enter or re-enter the job market through virtual English language training as well as online soft skills training and mentoring, intended to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which drove many Jordanian women out of the workforce.
• In the midst of the Covid pandemic, AMAL@Amideast offered women across Yemen an opportunity to learn English. This first fully online language training program offered by Amideast/Yemen has proven its ability to overcome the mobility and safety concerns that often curtail women’s and girls’ ability to benefit from in-person training models. “Amal” means “hope” in Arabic, and for the participating women, their newfound language and digital skills are expanding their personal and professional prospects for a more hopeful future.
• Through programs such as Skills for Success in southern Morocco and an employment readiness program in Saudi Arabia, young women are gaining proficiency in the use of digital platforms and tools, job search skills, and workplace communications and other skills that are enabling them to navigate employment and career options.
• The Employability Skills for Women program at our American Corner in Sousse (Tunisia) supported participants with digital tools and methodologies to navigate the future of the workplace. “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age are essential today to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls,” said Takwa Khelifi, who facilitated the program.
• Digital skills learned through the Career Skills Development Program in Kuwait not only led to an increase in job interviews and employment offers; the women participants also gained workplace skills and confidence in their own professional abilities.

As female graduates of these and other of Amideast’s diverse programs assume a greater presence in digital spaces, become successful role models and inspire others in their communities, they challenge cultural barriers and redefine social perceptions of their roles daily. Amideast is proud to play a role in amplifying their voices and experiences and highlighting their remarkable achievements across the MENA region and beyond. We are grateful to our many donors who make this work possible, including—for the programs referenced in this article—the U.S. Department of State, Citi Foundation, and the Boeing Company.