Queen Rania chairs discussion with INJAZ entrepreneurs, alumni

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday met with a group of INJAZ Al-Arab alumni and entrepreneurs during a session celebrating the organisation’s 10th anniversary.

Success stories of 14 young entrepreneurs from different countries, including Jordan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen and Oman were showcased during the event, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

Praising the role of INJAZ, Queen Rania stressed the importance of its programmes in providing the younger generation with various job opportunities, which is considered to be one of the biggest challenges currently facing young Arabs. 

Her Majesty also emphasised the importance of featuring INJAZ’s different training courses on the Edraak platform in order to benefit the highest possible number of young people in the Arab world.    

Queen Rania launched Edraak (www.edraak.org), a massive open online courses initiative, in May 2014.

The platform aims to enrich Arab higher education by offering access to courses taught at the best universities in the world and broadcasting Arab professors and academics as well as professionals to the region offering original Arabic content. 

During Wednesday’s session, attendees also watched a short video highlighting INJAZ Al-Arab’s key achievements. 

Since its launch in Jordan in 2004, the organisation has reached 2 million students with the support of more than 22,000 volunteers from 14 countries in the MENA region, in addition to Pakistan, the statement said.  

Sean Rush, president and CEO of US-based Junior Achievement Worldwide,
INJAZ’s parent organisation; INJAZ Al-Arab’s MENA Regional Director Soraya Salti; and
INJAZ Al-Arab Deputy CEO Akef Aqrabawi also attended the session.

Marking the occasion, Salti said: “We would not be here today without the support of Her Majesty and her belief in our mission to plant the seeds of entrepreneurship and promote it among our youth to encourage self-employment and the creation of more jobs.” 

Operating in 14 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, INJAZ Al-Arab is the only nonprofit organisation in the region that harnesses the mentorship of business leaders to help inspire a culture of entrepreneurship and business innovation among Arab youths, the statement said.

Partnering with leading companies in the private sector, INJAZ Al-Arab equips young Arabs to drive the economies of the Arab world forward through training designed to inspire them to develop ambition, entrepreneurship and professional skills.

Named one of the top 100 NGOs in the world by Global Journal for two consecutive years (2012, 2013), INJAZ Al-Arab has influenced the lives of over 1.5 million students since its inception in 2004. 

INJAZ Al-Arab is a member of Junior Achievement, the world’s largest and fastest-growing youth business organisation dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programmes.

“Our students represent the spirit of experimentation and leadership in the Arab world, which is not only essential in creating jobs and offering entrepreneurial opportunities for our youth, this spirit is at the core of a youth-led economic renaissance,” Aqrabawi noted.