Microsoft congratulates the following Unlimited Potential (UP) grant recipients. We are proud to support their work.
Algeria
National Agency for Employment (ANEM), Alger
ANEM is a government agency that helps find job opportunities for those who are unemployed. Partnering with nongovernmental organizations, other government agencies, and businesses, ANEM provides an array of services and resources that help bring unemployed youth into the work force. Targeting college graduates who are unemployed, this program will provide IT skills training that leads to certification. The project will help bridge the gap between theoretical studies and the technical skills required by the work force and corporations. After an intensive two-month training program, students will be offered two-month internships (with Microsoft partners and customers) that will provide on-the-job experience and additional certification.
Children of Sahara
The association Les Enfants du Sahara was created in 2002 with the help of two famous soccer players, Zinedine Zidane and Laurent Blanc, who are the association's sponsors. The association seeks to serve the needs of young people in the Sahara region, focusing on new technologies. With the support of this UP grant, and through various partnerships, the organization will in its first phase establish four TechnOasis programs across four cities in southern Algeria. These will be school-based community centers that will provide quality IT training and Internet access, and will link young people in Saharan cities with their peers across Algeria and around the world. The project estimates that more than 1,600 children will be have the opportunity to learn and work with IT and receive training in basic IT skills. Ultimately this will assist in narrowing the technological and social divide at the national level.
Bahrain
Bahrain Career Development Center, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Manama
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) in Bahrain works to develop the work force in Bahrain and helps a large percentage of the unemployed population find and secure new job opportunities. One of the greatest challenges facing Bahrain is unemployment and a shortage of trained IT professionals. Funding from the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program will assist in bridging the skills gap and provide job opportunities to Bahraini graduates. Upon completion of the basic IT skills training program, outstanding performers will be given the opportunity to undertake an IT professional certification diploma program to create a cadre of highly skilled IT professionals in Bahrain. Graduates will also be assisted with job placement.
Egypt
Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC), Cairo
RITSEC was established to help develop the information technology and software industry in the Arab Region into a world-class industry that competes at international levels and serves as a catalyst for accelerating socioeconomic development in a knowledge-based world.
RITSEC will use the Unlimited Potential grant to support the growing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) industry through the use of ICT to enhance productivity, increase market share, and open up new markets both locally and internationally. IT skills training will be provided to 250 unemployed youth and young women, as employees of small business, to increase their effectiveness in the workplace. The program will also provide women college graduates who are not employed with the necessary skills and qualifications to find a job.
Future Generation Foundation (FGF), Giza
FGF is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create a tech-oriented and skilled work force that will support the country's efforts to compete in a global marketplace. With support from Microsoft, FGF will focus its efforts on empowering women by providing IT skills certification for unemployed women university graduates. The goal is to build technical expertise so that these women can join Egypt's rapidly growing IT work force.
Technology Club Project
Since its inception in 1999, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Egypt (MCIT) has created a vibrant and exportable CIT industry and brought Egypt into the information technology age. Its activities range from developing and upgrading CIT systems in Egypt to improving the standards of living and fostering the IT industry in-country to provide IT awareness and training to the population. MCIT has invested heavily in bringing IT to disadvantaged communities and the public through the establishment of technology clubs. Building on these clubs and in collaboration with the UNDP, this UP grant will help provide a train-the-trainer program for 250 trainers who will support the learning of 1,000 community members. In addition, through targeted capacity-building efforts, the technology clubs will share best practices, access new tools, and receive technical support.
Israel
Access Israel, Hod-Hasharon
More than 13 percent of Israel's population (about 600,000 people) are disabled or elderly. Access to and training in current technology can make a meaningful improvement in the quality of their daily lives. Established in 1999, Access Israel serves this population by making Israel an accessible place for all. In collaboration with the Association of Community Training, a program of the Ministry of Education that supports community centers around the country, Access Israel will assist in making existing community centers accessible so that individuals with disabilities can use the centers' services. Funding from Microsoft will be used to provide assistive technology for learners who need it to take advantage of the IT skills training workshops, which will also be funded. Initially the program will be implemented in up to five community centers and will serve approximately 100 individuals with disabilities at each center.
Jordan
King Abdullah II Fund for Development, Amman
Jordan began an initiative to provide universal access to information and communications technology for all Jordanians in 2000 with the creation of 75 'Knowledge Station' Technology Community Centers across the country. To date, the Knowledge Stations have enabled more than 25,000 people to learn new technology skills through training courses ranging from basic computer literacy to advanced technology skills. Supported by a number of stakeholders in the public and private sectors, including donor agencies and technology companies, the initiative forms part of a major cross-sector effort in Jordan to create new economic opportunities based on information and communications technologies. Funding from Microsoft will be used to support ongoing IT skills development programs in the Knowledge Station Centers.
Kenya
UNHCR Dadaab Camp
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, operating today in more than 120 countries, was established in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. Today the organization helps an estimated 19.8 million people across the globe. In more than five decades, the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives, winning two Nobel Peace Prizes in the process.
The Dadaab camp, located in rural northern Kenya, was created 12 years ago and houses more than 130,000 refugees. The Dadaab camp consists of three smaller camps—Ifo, Dagahaley, and Hagardera—where 98 percent of refugees are of Somalian origin, 50 percent are women, and 35 percent are school-aged. Within the framework agreement between UNHCR and Microsoft, and through the UP grant, a program was designed in collaboration with local NGOs and refugees to provide an appropriate, sustainable IT environment for the refugees.
The objectives of the project are to empower young people and prepare them to play a role in developing their communities and home countries; to create new job opportunities and avenues for new service industries; and to link refugees to broad information sources and enable the refugees, especially youngsters, to participate in the knowledge era. To achieve this, three CTLCs will be established, one in each camp. During the first year, the camp will seek to train 500 secondary students and 1,000 out-of-school youth in basic IT skills. Additionally, the centers hope to train 35 educators in the use of IT as tool for education, develop IT professional skills for 20 young refugees, and provide Internet training and access to more than 500 community members.
Lebanon
Netcorps Lebanon, Beirut
Netcorps Lebanon was recently established as part of a national effort to ensure that all citizens have the necessary skills to participate in the information society. The Microsoft grant will be used to support IT skills training for 600 college graduates in CTLCs around the country. The focus of the program will be to train these students and place them in jobs in the tourist industry. By working for three months in small businesses that cater to tourism, the students will introduce IT into these businesses, whether it is through developing a Web site to promote a region and its services or through demonstrating how various applications can facilitate running a small business. Partners include CISCO, Pipop Centers UNECSO, Hariri Foundation, the Ministry of Tourism, and YMCA Lebanon. After they complete their internships, students will be eligible to be hired as trainers at CTLCs around the country to help bring the next group of young people into the program.
Mali
Academy for Education Development (AED), Washington, D.C.
AED is a nonprofit organization committed to solving critical social problems throughout the world through education, the application of information technologies, research, training, policy analysis, and innovative program design. Using a major grant from USAID, AED is working with local Malian NGOs, teacher-training centers, local governments, and community centers to establish CTLCs in 13 cities and small towns across Mali. These multipurpose centers will provide reliable and affordable access to information and communication technologies, IT skills training, and a range of development-related information and locally produced content for health, agriculture, economic development, and education. Funding from Microsoft will be used to develop sustainability strategies for the centers and to increase community participation in the CTLCs.
Morocco
Secrétariat d'Etat à la Jeunesse, Rabat
The Secrétariat d'Etat à la Jeunesse (Moroccan Ministry of Youth) provides young people with athletic, cultural, and educational experiences that are complementary to school offerings and distinct from what is available to children at home. Within existing community centers, the Ministry of Youth will establish four IT training centers. Experienced CTLC operators in Tangier and Marrakech will train the new centers' leaders on how to manage, run, and maintain the centers. Microsoft funding will be used to support IT skills training programs in the centers.
AjialCom
The Moroccan Ministry of Youth, in collaboration with the UNDP Morocco and UNDP's regional ICT program, are providing access to young Moroccans through youth centers. CTLC locations are currently being established to empower young people through the use of ICT, providing IT skills development and assisting in the creation of new job opportunities to prepare the future generation for the work force. Through this UP grant and the contributions of each of the partners, seven centers will be established and train-the-trainer programs will be implemented. Two trainers per center will be hired, and basic IT training for 150 community members will be delivered. The skills development and activities provided at the community centers will help create new jobs opportunities and will assist in the socioeconomic development of the local community.
Mozambique
UNDP ICT for Development Program
Within the framework of the ICT policy of Mozambique (to ensure access to disadvantaged communities) and with the support of the UNDP, the Provincial Digital Resource Centres (CPRDs) initiative was launched in 1999. The program seeks to reduce poverty in Mozambique through promotion of ICT as an enabler of development. The CPRDs are a single entry point for ICT deployment and activity in the provinces, and they help support capacity building and development of local content. Two of these centers have been established in the Inhambane and Tete provinces, and the longer-term plan is to have one center in each province across the country.
Within the framework of the UNDP/Microsoft agreement and through the UP grant, a train-the-trainer program for the two existing CPRDs will be implemented. Additionally, the centers will establish a program focused on IT skills development and capacity building for community members. This program will also focus on job creation, local economic and social development, and community readiness to address the triple threat of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and food security. These services will greatly benefit the people living in the provinces of Tete and Inhambane, whose total population is approximately 2.3 million.
Nigeria
SchoolNet Nigeria
The nonprofit SchoolNet Nigeria was established in 2001 to benefit stakeholders in education and to address the effective introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the formal and informal education systems in Nigeria. The organization is supported by partnerships among a diverse range of public and private entities. These groups are mobilizing Nigeria's human and financial resources to transform the country into a knowledge society, where participants benefit from technology.
SchoolNet Nigeria will expand on its mandate and reach more community members by investing the UP grant to empower Nigerian women to create new job opportunities and contribute directly to the development of the Nigerian education system. To this end, SchoolNet Nigeria will be providing IT training to female school administration staff and unemployed female graduates. Participants will then have the opportunity to gain job experience by participating in an internship program in schools, in resource centers, and with Microsoft partners and customers. The project seeks to empower 200 women and eventually affect 50,000 school students.
Oman
Coordination Committee for Women's Volunteering Work
The committee oversees and coordinates the activities of 40 Omani regional women's associations (NGOs), which provide education, social assistance, and planning services to women within their regions. Based in Muscat, the association's programs reach into rural areas where large populations of underprivileged women are located. Through this UP grant, the committee will expand its operations to provide IT skills training opportunities for more than 1,500 disadvantaged Omani women to improve their quality of life and employment prospects. The program will also train women to be trainers to enhance the impact and scale of the program over time.
Pakistan
National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Islamabad
NCHD is a public-private partnership between the Pakistani government and the Pakistan Human Development Fund. It functions as an organizing body for human development efforts across the country. Funding from Microsoft will be used to seed the establishment of up to 16 community technology learning centers in underserved, remote areas of Pakistan. In most cases, these centers will be introducing IT access and skills training to underserved communities for the first time. The target population for training in these centers is women; training will range from basic IT literacy to the use of applications such as word processing programs. These skills will help the women find employment and strengthen local businesses.
Saudi Arabia
Application Developer Program for High Schoolers
Established in 1962, the AL-Nahdah Institute provides education and training for economically disadvantaged women in Riyadh and for other disadvantaged populations. Most of the populations the institute serves are unable to attend university and are unable to afford tuition at vocational training institutes. The UP grant will be used to launch a training program that will teach basic IT skills to at least 50 young, disadvantaged women. In addition to providing training to these community members, the project seeks to teach skills to trainers through an advanced train-the-trainer program, ensuring greater scale and growth of the program at the center.
Senegal
Groupe pour l'Etude et l'Enseignement de la Population (GEEP), Dakar
Groupe pour l'Etude et l'Enseignement de la Population (Group for Study and Teaching of Population Issues) is a multidisciplinary nongovernmental organization that focuses on population education and family life education. For the past five years, the organization has promoted the use of IT to teach family education within schools and in the community and has partnered with the Ministries of Education and Health, several UN agencies, and the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC). Funding from Microsoft will be used to help create a community technology center (CTLC) within the School of Education in Dakar that will provide IT skills training for community members (with a focus on young adults) and teachers. This CTLC will in turn serve as the hub for another 25 CTLCs located throughout the country, providing training and support for center staff.
South Africa
Soshanguve CTLC
Ort SA was established in 1936 to focus on technology education and vocational training throughout South Africa. The organization offers a rich variety of customized courses, from specialized financial training for entry-level workers to technology and scientific programs for teachers and learners. The UP grant will help Ort build the capacity and skills of young adults, educators, community leaders, and women's groups in the "forgotten" communities of South Africa. It will fund the training of four trainers who will train up to 300 community members on basic IT skills and facilitate the upgrade of existing IT infrastructure. Training courses will provide varied tracks targeting diverse populations: training teachers to teach computer skills at their respective schools, training unemployed residents in Ort careers courses, training local government officials in computer skills so they can provide better services to the community, and facilitating the coordination of local women's groups to run small entrepreneurial businesses.
Think Quest Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Think Quest Africa is a learning program that encourages young Africans to develop educational Web sites in different content areas (arts, science, math, health, and sports, for example) with the goal of encouraging talented learners (ages 12 to 19) to contribute to building knowledge-based society in Africa. Working in teams at local CTLCs, students learn the necessary IT skills to research content and build Web sites that provide educational content about a topic that interests them. In addition to working across geographical boundaries, the students acquire skills in leadership, management and business, collaboration and teamwork, time management, technology, and marketing.
With the support from Microsoft, the program will serve 10,000 African youth from 17 countries. The sites they develop will be reviewed by teams of educators, IT specialists, and Web designers. Awards will be made to the teams that create the best sites. All Web sites built through this program are stored in a knowledge warehouse for future reference and use.
Tunisia
Centre National Informatique pour l'Enfance In Tunisia (CNIPE), Tunis
Centre National Informatique pour l'Enfance In Tunisia (National Center for IT for Children) is focused on making IT available and accessible to Tunisia's children who do not otherwise have access. Through the Unlimited Potential program, 24 community technology centers across Tunisia will be upgraded with current software. In addition, a contribution of IT skills curriculum will improve the courses being offered. Through these centers, more than 15,000 underserved Tunisian youth will have access to the most current IT tools and receive IT skills training on those tools to increase their knowledge and future opportunities.
Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR)
Located in Tunis, Tunisia, CAWTAR is an international nongovernmental institution established in 1993. The organization seeks to promote Arab women's participation in development by providing gender training, research, clearinghouse services, and advisory services. The UP grant will be used to plan efforts to enable female NGO staff in five to seven countries to acquire IT knowledge and participate in the effort to eradicate technology illiteracy. The planning process will partner with between five and seven institutions in Yemen, Mauritania, Sudan, Palestine, Tunisia, Oman, and Iraq.
Turkey
Education Volunteers Foundation (EV), Istanbul
EV works to close the education gap in Turkey, engage children in lifelong learning, and involve parents, volunteers, and community leaders in the learning process. EV is the largest civic organization in Turkey, providing a variety of learning programs designed for children ages 7 to 16 who live in socioeconomically underprivileged regions. The constituency is about 350,000 children and 8,500 volunteers. EV will use the Microsoft Unlimited Potential funds to maintain an up-to-date and sustainable IT literacy program in 90 facilities operated by the foundation, including 10 Education Parks, 65 learning centers, and 15 mobile learning units throughout the country. These facilities reach 30,000 children annually.
United Arab Emirates
Tanmia, Dubai
Tanmia, the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority, was established to aid in strengthening the employability of United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals, a group in which unemployment has been rising in recent years. Tanmia established a central unemployment agency that works with locals to assess their skills and provide training and job placement. Many UAE job seekers have low skill levels but high career expectations; to address this qualifications gap, Tanmia will use funding from Microsoft to offer IT skills training in each of its existing job centers. Tanmia will also teach students how to use the Internet to search for jobs. Through this project, the government hopes to train and place 30 percent of the 8,000 unemployed locals on the books. Although the UAE is often portrayed as a country rich in education and wealth, it is still struggling to address the knowledge gap in areas such as IT that have traditionally been staffed by expatriate resources.
Top of page
