The winners of the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement 2009 were announced at the closing ceremony of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. His Majesty King Abdullah II presented four winners with awards in recognition of their innovative projects to benefit their communities.
The four winners, selected from over 500 entries received from across the Arab world, will each receive a $50,000 grant to broaden the scope and impact of their work, and support complementary training and capacity building opportunities.
At the closing session, attended by Her Majesty Queen Rania and a number of royal family members and senior officials, King Abdullah committed to pay for projects of the ten Arab youths who competed for the award, including the four winners who received $50,000 to develop their projects in order to increase their positive impact.
At the end of the gathering, WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab expressed his appreciation for the King's initiative to launch the award, saying it strengthened the youths' leading role in addressing poverty and unemployment through the use of the power of technology, building partnerships with local communities and helping the sustainability of programmes and partnership with various sectors.
The King Abdullah Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement (KAAYIA) is managed by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), which was established in 2001.
KAFD is an organisation which aims to achieve developmental goals in Jordan and elevate citizens' standards of living. Its strategies are based on establishing pioneering projects in response to citizens' needs and priorities and capitalising on their capabilities and potential.
KAFD has been contributing to programs designed to empower the targeted segments, especially the youth.
The winners are:
Rabee' Zureikat for his Zikra initiatve to promote gender equality in Ghor Al Mazra. Zikra's multi-faceted approach includes volunteerism, a micro-lending programme, entrepreneurship and skills training and art workshops. To date, more than 1,000 volunteers have supported Zikra's approach, generating over $15,000. With these funds, Zikra has provided micro-loans to 15 families to develop businesses ranging from handicraft production to beekeeping.
Lana Hijazi, from Palestine grouped with Palestinian and Canadian youth in 2007 to kick start Souktel, a mobile-based service linking job seekers and employers. Souktel began full operation in Palestine in 2008, where more than 8,000 job seekers and 200 employers have accessed its job-matching service.
Abdelkareem Bedri won for Speaking Gloves: Arabic Deaf Sign Language. Helping the deaf be heard is Abdelkareem's way of making a difference in people's lives. Through the development of a microcontroller-based system to translate Arabic sign language to an audible voice, this project will help the hearing impaired be more productive in the community by easing their communication. Speaking Gloves is a glove-based input interface, whereby a glove fits onto the hand of a deaf individual and contains sensors that transmit information to a microcontroller as the wearer moves his/her hand to sign, which then activates a small speaker. The project is expected to increase learning and performance of deaf students in target institutes and schools, and increase employment for the hearing impaired.
Raghda El Ebrashy is the founder and chairperson of Alashanek Ya Balady Association for Sustainable Development (AYB-SD), a registered NGO in Old Cairo with five branches in various universities across Egypt. AYB-SD focuses its efforts on addressing the needs of youth and women in Old Cairo by nurturing a spirit of volunteerism, while promoting sustainable models of development. Graduates of its vocational training program are offered formal employment opportunities through AYB-SD's employment office or micro-loans to start their own businesses. AYB-SD sustains it work through the talented volunteer base it attracts and the three social ventures it launched that generate revenue for its activities through providing technical training to students and employees; producing and selling high quality, handmade products; and offering graphic design and arts workshops. In 2008 alone, "AYB-SD" reached more than 2,000 low-income youth and women through its programs.