Hello Everyone,
Al Mubadarah has postponed the #ArabDev twitter chat today for next week. We didn’t think it would be appropriate to have a chat this week with the unrest in MENA and the U.S. embassies. We’ll resume the chat next week with the same topic. Join our partners @AshokaArabWorld and @PitaPolicy next week for a conversation on Arab development and the Levant Diaspora. Thank you for your understanding!
Hope you can join us for week 8 of the #ArabDev twitter chat! We’ll be chatting about- the Levant Diaspora- Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt!
“What is a Diaspora? Diaspora means “to scatter” in Greek, but today we use the term to describe a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry but maintain active connections with it. A diaspora includes both emigrants and their descendants.” Diaspora Alliance
Definition of remittances: authors and organizations have used the term to discuss a variety of resources: from cash exchanges only; to cash and ‘in-kind’ transfers (goods and services); to cash and in-kind transfers plus compensation to employees (wages, salaries); to even more complex measures that include social benefits and transfers to non-profits. However, remittances can be defined broadly as the monetary transfers that a migrant sends to his/her country of origin or, in other words, financial flows associated with migration. Most remittances are personal cash transfers from a migrant worker or immigrant to a relative in the homeland. It can be funds invested, deposited, or donated by the migrant to the country of origin. Diaspora Matter
The links below can help you get more acquainted with the what diaspora engagement is all about and why we’re talking about it:
1. Why does the diaspora invest?
2. Promote diaspora philanthropy
4. Migration Policy Institute’s Data Hub
Join us and our partners @AshokaArabWorld and @PitaPolicy on Thursday @ 3pm EST or 9pm EET to chat! Please send us suggestions for questions or leave it in a comment below!
Hope you can join us for week 7 of the #ArabDev twitter chat! We’ll be chatting about- the North African Diaspora!
“What is a Diaspora? Diaspora means “to scatter” in Greek, but today we use the term to describe a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry but maintain active connections with it. A diaspora includes both emigrants and their descendants.” Diaspora Alliance
Definition of remittances: authors and organizations have used the term to discuss a variety of resources: from cash exchanges only; to cash and ‘in-kind’ transfers (goods and services); to cash and in-kind transfers plus compensation to employees (wages, salaries); to even more complex measures that include social benefits and transfers to non-profits. However, remittances can be defined broadly as the monetary transfers that a migrant sends to his/her country of origin or, in other words, financial flows associated with migration. Most remittances are personal cash transfers from a migrant worker or immigrant to a relative in the homeland. It can be funds invested, deposited, or donated by the migrant to the country of origin. Diaspora Matters
Join us and our partners @AshokaArabWorld and @PitaPolicy on Thursday @ 3pm EST or 9pm EET to chat! Please send us suggestions for questions or leave it in a comment below!
Hope you can join us for week 6 of the #ArabDev twitter chat! We’ll be chatting about- best practices from global diaspora models (India / China /others)!
“What is a Diaspora? Diaspora means “to scatter” in Greek, but today we use the term to describe a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry but maintain active connections with it. A diaspora includes both emigrants and their descendants.” Diaspora Alliance
Join us and our partners @AshokaArabWorld and @PitaPolicy on Thursday @ 3pm EST or 9pm EET to chat! Please send us suggestions for questions or leave it in a comment below!
This week we’ll be chatting about Volunteerism, Philanthropy and CSR (Social Corporate Responsibility) in #MENA. Join us and our partners in a engaging conversation about this topic! (PS: Do you or your org want to be a #ArabDev chat partner or want to sponsor a particular topic? Tweet us or leave a comment below!)
@CenterAAP – The Center for Arab American Philanthropy strengthens the impact of strategic Arab American giving through education, asset building and grantmaking, in order to improve lives and build vibrant communities. http://www.centeraap.org/
@TFPalestine: Teach for Palestine brings internationally trained teachers to the West Bank to work with kids. TFP’s holistic, interactive approach has proven effective in mentoring students and developing fluency. The average student at TFP acquires 350 new words and advances slightly more than one grade level in reading each semester. After their initial exposure to international teachers, student’s verbal fluency increases exponentially and continues to grow rapidly throughout the program. Moving beyond the classroom, our communicative and compassionate approach draws out and engages children who have suffered from violence, abuse and oppression the better part of their lives. http://teach-for-palestine.org
@AshokaArabWorld: Ashoka wants to shape a global, entrepreneurial, competitive Citizen Sector one that allows social entrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world’s citizens to think and act as changemakers. We find and support the Arab world’s leading social entrepreneurs: people with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. http://www.facebook.com/AshokaArabWorld
@PitaPolicy: PITAPOLICY represents the Politics, Interests, Technology, and Analysis of the Middle East & North African region. Breaking bread, hence sharing a meal with anyone, symbolizes the conscious and informal way of engaging in respectful conversation. http://www.pitapolicyconsulting.com
On Thursday, August 16th 2012, we had our fourth #ArabDev chat on the topic: Arab Youth Empowerment & Job Creation. Thanks to all the folks that participated in the chat. Below is a recap of the highlights of the exchange we had with entrepreneurs, organizations and people working on the ground globally.
Our partners for week four were:
@EFEfoundation – Education for Employment (EFE) is a network of locally-run, affiliated not-for-profit organizations that provide young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with tools to start a job, build their future and give back to their communities. Youth unemployment in MENA is the highest in the world; nearly twice as high as the global average. Since 2006, EFE has impacted thousands of lives across the region. http://www.efefoundation.org/
@TomorrowsYouth – Founded in 2007 is an American, NGO which aims enable children, youth, and parents in disadvantaged areas of the Middle East to realize their potential as healthy, active and responsible family and community members. Tomorrow’s Youth Organization is a point of light for under-privileged children and communities in the Middle East. TYO engages children (ages 4-8), youth (ages 8-22), and parents in productive, formative, and fulfilling activities! TYO’s approach is guided by three main tenets: Comprehensive Development, Sustainable Impact, and Cultural Diplomacy. http://www.tomorrowsyouth.org/
@ADInitiative The Arab Development Initiative (ADI) is a student-driven, non-profit organization that encourages youth to direct their knowledge, skills, and resources towards addressing and creatively solving some of the development challenges facing the Arab World. We are a group of 30 students and young professionals – based principally in Montreal, Quebec – working to establish the ADI as an intermediary to both those wishing to get involved with existing organizations and those hoping to kick-start their own initiatives in the Middle East. http://www.arabdevelopment.com/en
@AshokaArabWorld: Ashoka wants to shape a global, entrepreneurial, competitive Citizen Sector one that allows social entrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world’s citizens to think and act as changemakers. We find and support the Arab world’s leading social entrepreneurs: people with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. http://www.facebook.com/AshokaArabWorld
@PitaPolicy: PITAPOLICY represents the Politics, Interests, Technology, and Analysis of the Middle East & North African region. Breaking bread, hence sharing a meal with anyone, symbolizes the conscious and informal way of engaging in respectful conversation. http://www.pitapolicyconsulting.com
To see more of the chat recap follow the link below:
[View the story "Week Four Recap of the #ArabDev Chat!" on Storify]
Thanks so much for joining #ArabDev chat this week! It was great to explore the topic of Arab youth empowerment. If you couldn’t make it stay tuned for the recap!
Next week we’ll be chatting about Volunteerism, Philanthropy and CSR (Social Corporate Responsibility)! Join us! Please send us suggestions for questions or leave it in a comment below! Looking forward to seeing you on the #ArabDev chat next Thursday @ 3pm EST or 9pm EET!
Exciting news, our partner Mehrunisa Qayyum founder of @PitaPolicy featured #ArabDev chat in her Huffington Post article America’s Knowledge Economy Needs Its Creative Youth:
“Thanks to ingenuity and Twitter, a non-profit network, like Al Mubadarah, is trying to leverage social capital and the softskills advantage that many Americans have over other countries in the Arab world. Al Mubadarah’s new initiative costs no money. Instead, it costs time as they host online Arab Development Chats called “#ArabDev” on Twitter.”
Our partners @AshokaArabWorld and @MeridianIntl were also mentioned, more specifically @AshokaArabWorld tweet from week 2 of the chat was cited:
“@AshokaArabWorld: To support business development, remain active in both the physical world by holding conferences, seminars, meetings and in the virtual world through social media, websites, blogs forums.”
Please read and share the article with your networks! Also, join in the #ArabDev Chat this week (tomorrow) at 3pm EST or 9pm EET! We’re chatting about Arab youth empowerment and job creation!
Our weekly partners have been updated! Be sure to follow them and keep up on their exciting work! http://arabdevchat.com/partners/
Looking forward to #ArabDev Chat Week 4!
We thank our partners and supporters for this weeks chat: Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (www.tomorrowsyouth.org), Ashoka Arab World (www.ashoka.org), Education for Employment Foundation (http://efefoundation.org), Youth based group Arab Development Initiative (arabdevelopment.com), Pitapolicy Consulting (www.pitapolicy.com)
As we prepare of the chat tomorrow, here are some stats and useful readings/links:
Above stats via United Nations Statistics Division (source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/01/world/meast/middle-east-women-education/index.html)
Globally: 43% of the world’s population is under 25. Number of young people is rising fastest in those parts of the world with the lowest economic growth.
Stats via our Chat Partner: Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (http://www.tomorrowsyouth.org)
USEFUL REPORT: The Silatech Index: Voices of Young Arabs
The Silatech Index: Voices of Young Arabs, a Silatech study prepared in partnership with Gallup, measures and analyzes attitudes of young Arabs with respect to their hopes and desires in life, human capital, work, entrepreneurship, and obstacles to success.
Download report for free: http://www.gallup.com/poll/120758/Silatech-Index-Voices-Young-Arabs.aspx
Want a print copy for your organization? Email us at info@arabempowerment.org
DEVELOPMENT STATS:
RT @Rowaida_Abdel #Egypt 2 sign US $200 million #WorldBank loan for small projects through Social Development Fund 2 create #jobs #ArabDev #MENA
Oman plans to spend $1 billion from its oil windfall to create jobs for its citizens over the next 12 months via finance ministry. The government says that through state spending and economic policies, it has created over 50,000 jobs between May last year and June this year. There are currently about 22,000 Omani citizens looking for jobs, out of a total of roughly 2 million. Source: https://www.arabfinance.com/News/newsdetails.aspx?Id=234545
WHAT DOES ALL THE ABOVE MEAN FOR EDUCATION, FAMILIES, JOBS, HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY? Add your voice to the discussion tomorrow, Thursday August 16 at 3 pm EST.
OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION FOR YOUTH:
#UN Global #Youth Forum, International Conference on Population & #Development @Dec 4-6 2012, Bali Indonesia. If you are an Arab Youth attending, we’d love to hear from you! info@arabempowerment.org
Learn more about conference and how to apply: http://www.un-ngls.org/gyf/en/
via Peace and Collaborative Development Network
For more resources and opportunities visit our resource page on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/ArabDiaspora/) and facebook page (www.facebook.com/ArabEmpowerment)
