Silatech and Microsoft signed an agreement renewing their commitment to provide online employability resources to Arab youth through the Ta3mal network. The new agreement will now see the activation of the Qatar portal, following successful project implementations in Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Tarik M. Yousef, CEO, Silatech and Naim Yazbeck, General Manager, Microsoft Qatar, in the presence of Her Excellency Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Qatar and former Secretary-General of ictQatar and Jeffrey Avina, Director of Citizenship and Community Affairs, Microsoft Middle East and Africa.
The Ta3mal network provides Arab youth with free access to a wide variety of resources, including personalised advice on how to write a CV as well as career guidance tools and virtual advising to help young people determine the career path that best matches their life aspirations. Through a partnership with ALISON free online courses, Ta3mal users have access to over 500 online courses to enhance their professional skills. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Ta3mal offers useful information and tips for starting businesses and obtaining funding as well as virtual mentoring and entrepreneurship support services, including advice on how to create a business plan and market a business idea.
Youth unemployment in the Arab region is around 25% — the highest of any region in the world—and the lack of access to quality employability resources is a substantial impediment to lowering unemployment rates.
Through close coordination with local partners, Ta3mal will soon also provide job seekers a platform from which to search for entry-level job openings and available internship opportunities in their area. Country partners include Edupartage, Tunisiana, and ATUGE (Tunisia), USAID (Iraq), the Ministry of Youth, Egypt and Bedaya Centre, Qatar.
According to H.E Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, “Qatar has long understood that encouraging and actively supporting innovation and entrepreneurship and spurring ICT adoption, particularly among our young people, will foster a thriving and diversified economy.” She added, “I want to thank both Microsoft and Silatech for their ongoing commitment to Qatar and the region. Our young people are our future. Empowering them to use ICT safely and effectively in whatever their work and career choices is a top priority.”
Together with Silatech and Microsoft, ictQatar is also a participant in the Employability Resources for All Digital Alliance, an initiative to develop and deploy web and mobile-based employability resources throughout the region to benefit Arab youth.
Commenting on the event, Naim Yazbeck, said, “Microsoft continues its commitment as a contributor to the socio-economic development of the State of Qatar. As one of the fastest growing economies of the world, Qatar is keen on boosting employability rates and remaining the most competitive market in the region. Our partnership will allow us to invest our latest technologies to harness Qatar’s workforce and provide the youth with the tools that will enable them to advance tomorrow’s knowledge-based economy.”
Jeffrey Avina said, “Microsoft is committed to providing youth in the region with access to the tools and technologies that will help them identify and secure career opportunities. Microsoft’s partnership with Silatech began in 2012 with the ‘MasrTa3mal’ which resulted in high demand from countries across the Arab World to create similar employability portals. We are excited to be extending the opportunity to youth in Qatar and believe that Ta3mal will enable them to identify opportunities to advance their careers.“
Dr. Tarik M. Yousef commented on the partnership saying,“The Ta3mal network is a product of our joint commitment to providing widespread access to quality employability resources for the youth of this region. The Silatech-Microsoft partnership for Ta3mal shows what we can do when NGOs and the private sector join our complementary strengths and resources together to achieve real impact.”
Silatech is a regional social initiative that works to improve employment, entrepreneurship and civic engagement opportunities for young people throughout the Arab world. Through the Ta3mal initiative, Silatech and Microsoft aim to provide employability and entrepreneurship resources to over one million young people throughout the region during 2014.