“AGFUND: Development Alliance for Training 100 thousand Youth to Pioneering, Empowerment & Fighting Poverty”

The Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) announced forming an “alliance” for training and preparing (100) thousand male and female youth in the Arab world in the field of leadership, empowerment and fighting poverty. The alliance comprises the Arab Gulf Programme for Development, Arab Open University, AGFUND microfinance banks and the International Youth Federation. The first step of this project was launched upon the approval of AGFUND Board of Directors – during its meeting in Riyadh (Wednesday 11 December 2013) – to provide support for AGFUND entrepreneurship center at the Arab Open University Branch in Lebanon; thus AGFUND sets off to implement the alliance within the framework of “Prince Talal Abdulaziz Initiative for Fighting Poverty” The eighth meeting of the Board of Directors was chaired on behalf of Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz (President of AGFUND) by H.E. Eng. Youssef Bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam, Vice President, Representative of Saudi Arabia at AGFUND and General Manager of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) The Board confirmed approving more than US $ one million and two hundred thousand for supporting and financing new development projects. During its meeting at AGFUND main headquarters in Riyadh, the Board reviewed AGFUND achievements throughout 2013 as well as the submitted projects in order to consider the possibility of financing them. Upon discussions, the Board approved supporting and financing 11 development projects and likewise, the Board also approved the administrative budget and AGFUND Prize budget for 2014. Among the projects approved by the Board in its meeting was a project for empowering women economically via the NGOs in Saudi Arabia. Arab-wise, the meeting also approved financing a project for the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research “Cawtar” regarding the “Gender” besides to a project for building capabilities and enhancing the approach of social protection for the rights of disabled people in the Arab world. The projects cover the fields of developing youth in Kuwait and Yemen, integrating street children in society through education in Egypt and serving those who suffer hearing and visual impairment in each of Palestine and Bahrain, enhancing the immunization programmes through training in Zimbabwe and fighting River Blindness in Côte d’Ivoire. The projects in general are for UN, International, regional and national organizations including the World Health Organization “WHO”, Helen Care Internationa