by lwang | Sep 14, 2012 | Education, Entrepreneurship, INJAZ Al-Arab
2012 Kravis Prize winner Soraya Salti’s INJAZ Al-Arab aims to inspire and cultivate entrepreneurial aspirations in a new generation of Arab youth. In doing so, the organization has implemented many different initiatives to train and equip young students with the skills they need. For example, in 2009, INJAZ-UAE partnered with HSBC Bank Middle East to pilot the Junior Achievement More than Money program in the United Arab Emirates. Through the program, HSBC staff teaches young students about earning, sharing, saving and conscientious spending of money as well as about businesses they can start or jobs they can consider for their future. Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al-Nehayan, vice chairman of INJAZ Al-Arab and chairman of INJAZ-UAE, discussed the program: “It will have a positive impact on [youth’s] behavior as future professionals and conscious consumers. It can also help students apply their mathematical teachings to everyday life, resulting in more comprehensive and practical learning experience.” To find out more about Soraya Salti and INJAZ-Al Arab’s great work, go to our page. “HSBC and Injaz-UAE ‘More than Money’ teach financial skills to 6th and 7th graders” [AMEinfo, May, 14,...
by lwang | Jul 20, 2012 | Entrepreneurship, INJAZ Al-Arab, Soraya Salti
In light of last year’s Arab Spring and the recent presidential election in Egypt, it is clear that there are many socioeconomic issues that need to be tackled in the Middle East. Thankfully, 2012 Kravis Prize winner Soraya Salti and her organization INJAZ Al-Arab are working to ameliorate one of the underlying problems, youth unemployment in the region. INJAZ Al-Arab uses their network of Arab business leaders to inspire entrepreneurship and innovation among Arab youth. In an op-ed published in Right Side News, contributor Daniel Doron discussed how previous regimes in Egypt have discouraged entrepreneurship and commerce. Doron noted, “Growing unemployment is preventing a generation of youth from maturing with dignity. Most are too educated to consider working in manual labor, so they remain dependent on their parents.” The op-ed quoted Salti, who said in a 2009 interview: “Youth are marginalized from an opportunity to graduate into adulthood and to become independent, self-respecting human beings who are just able to do the normal things in life, like getting married and having a home.” Now that Salti and others have recognized these issues, INJAZ Al-Arab and their network of mentors are working to foster a new generation of independent, self-sufficient entrepreneurs in the Middle East! “Free Markets Can Transform the Middle East” [Right Side News, March 11,...
by lwang | May 23, 2012 | Community Development, Entrepreneurship, Female Empowerment, INJAZ Al-Arab, Soraya Salti
What sets Kravis Prize winners apart from other social entrepreneurs is their aim to empower those who do not have their own voice. 2012 Kravis Prize winner Soraya Salti’s INJAZ Al-Arab is a perfect example. Youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa is the highest in the world and INJAZ Al-Arab is working to remedy this problem. As part of the Global Journal’s series on the New Global Generation of Female Change-Makers, the publication interviewed INJAZ Al-Arab Executive Director Soraya Salti, who discussed the importance of youth entrepreneurship. “[The youth] realize that due to population demographics governments are no longer hiring – they can’t cope with the influx of graduates – and the private sector discriminates against them. So their only avenue for economic inclusion is entrepreneurship, and we see that reflected very, very strongly in the motivation of young females we work with. They take the entrepreneurship experience and opportunity we give them as a raison d’etre. They put their hearts and souls completely into it.” Salti also offered some insight into how and why the government is beginning to work with the organization: “I think it was a moment of awakening for governments, that the biggest national security issue is unemployment. In the short-term, we have been looked upon as a solution provider – by the Jordanian government, by the Saudi government, by the Bahraini government. It’s made our life a lot easier in a way, because so much of our effort went into piloting, and proof of concept, and convincing ministries of education to really take us seriously and invest and give us the...
