iValues competition honours efforts to make meaningful impact across various sectors

AMMAN — iValues, a competition that seeks to transform values into actions and improve politics and policy making in the MENA region, held its awards ceremony in Amman on Tuesday evening.

The competition titled “Rethink Politics in MENA” was held in partnership with Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Madrid, the Innovation in Politics Institute and Raseef22, the competition’s media partner.

The competition hosted participants from around the region, including from Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Gulf countries.

FNF MENA indicated that participants were asked to find solutions to the challenges raised by the circumstances imposed by the spread of COVID-19, such as threats against democracy, gaps in the health and education systems, market and economic deficiencies and threats against transparency and good governance.

Earlier this year, FNF MENA announced the iValues competition, to support and encourage entrepreneurs in the region to make a meaningful impact across various sectors. After a nine-month period of hard work and dedication, five winners in five different categories were awarded and given a chance to execute their plan.

During the opening remarks, Yara Asmar, regional strategy manager at FNF MENA, stated that more than 260 projects were submitted to the competition from 11 different countries. 

The 25 competition finalists had the chance to engage with professional jurors from the MENA region and policy makers from both the MENA and the EU.

During his speech, Dirk Kunze, regional director of FNF MENA, said that the world is living in an “era of progress” and highlighted the importance of dialogue for a “free society”. 

“Dialogues have and will always be the motor and the prerequisite for common progress among individuals, communities, societies and so on,” he said.

“The liberal concept of freedom means that the individual, with all their reason, tolerance and responsibilities, are free to grow and develop. And we, at FNF, stand to empower those who want to truly achieve something,” Kunze added.

Musician Emel Mathlouthi performed after winning the iValues Special Recognition award. “I am thankful for this opportunity, I feel very emotional as I have truly missed being in Amman, which I consider my other home,” she said. 

Mathlouthi used her voice to “spread the word of freedom as it echoes all oppressed voices in the MENA region”, according to an iVoices statement sent to The Jordan Times. 

“I chose a path to represent all women who are oppressed, for the future of freedom,” Mathlouthi added.

Rasha Abu Shakhdam, a 28-year-old Jordanian, and Ehab Kahwati, 28-year-old Syrian, won two awards, the iValues policy award and the Quality of Life category award for their Martha EDU social enterprise.

Martha EDU is a Jordanian/Syrian social enterprise that aims to boost literacy among deaf children and their families through interactive, tech-empowered learning experiences in Arabic and English, according to Abu Shakhdam.

“Our mission is to create technology-enabled learning products for deaf children that can enter every house, not only in Jordan, but also the Middle East and the world,” Kahwati said. 

Abu Shakhdam and Kahwati expressed their happiness for winning the two awards, describing their experience in the competition as “enriching and wonderful”.

“We are looking forward to building partnerships with both the private and public sectors,” Kahwati told The Jordan Times during an interview.

Abu Shakhdam noted that being part of the competition has given them the chance to learn through exchanging knowledge and ideas with fellow participants. “We worked really hard, but it was worth it. It was a great opportunity to connect with policy makers,” she told The Jordan Times during an interview.

The winner for the second iValues category, Economy and Jobs, was The Lotus Flower, an initiative supporting women and girls who were affected by conflict and displacement.

The iValues award for Democracy and Community was received by CCI Boost, a platform that that aims to create an enabling eco-system for CCI (Commodity Channel Index) actors to expand their activities. 

The winner of the iValues award for Regional Development was Robin Food, and the winner for the Human Rights category was Min Haqqiha.