News and Updates
Secretary General of UEF Marwan Awartani becomes new chair of the Arab Foundations Forum
Arab Foundations Forum (AFF), an association of Arab Foundations based in Amman, Jordan met for the eighth time to discuss its further organisational development. The meeting took place on March 20-21, 2009 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, hosted by the Emirates Foundation.
Resulting from its newly approved governance policies, AFF members met to elect their new Board of Directors. Following this election, the newly appointed Board of Directors elected Marwan Awartani of the Universal Education Foundation to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the next two years. Marwan's role will be to lead further the strategic development of the association, help with member recruitment, stabilising the institution, and developing its programme activities. Given the scope of his responsibilities, Marwan also became the Chair of the new Programme Committee of AFF.
Read more [pdf] about the outcomes of this meeting.
Foundations from Europe and the Middle East meet in Berlin to launch their movement on the well-being of children
21 representatives from ten foundations in Europe and the Middle East met in Berlin in November 2008 to discuss the ‘Education by All for the Well-being of Children’ initiative.
The workshop, endorsed by the EFC, was convened by Universal Education Foundation and hosted in Berlin by the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The initiative was first presented to the EFC AGA in 2005, and since then a group of foundations have come together to explore how they can work together towards building a global and inspirational movement for ‘Education By All for the Well-being of Children’. A series of EFC conference sessions and then a workshop in Paris began to identify a joint plan for the group. In preparation for the Berlin workshop, a survey of 12 foundations was carried out between August and October 2008 to form a shared baseline of information and understanding about how each other’s work contributes to children’s and young people’s well-being. In Berlin, the foundations discussed how to work together within the initiative to further it strategically through coordinated and concrete actions.
Read more [pdf] about the participants and outcomes of this workshop.
Building a global and inspirational movement towards ‘Education by All for the Well-being of Children
Following the meetings held during the 2007 Annual General Assembly and Conference (AGA) of the European Foundations Centre (EFC) in Madrid, a number of foundations agreed to participate in a global and inspirational movement towards education by all for the well-being of children, young people, and those who surround them. Later, in March 2008, a workshop was organised by Universal Education Foundation (UEF) and the Evens Foundation in Paris in order to have an in-depth exchange among the foundations about insights, vision, purpose, success factors, and goals. Discussions focused on joint work, including a project within the EFC’s Education and Youth Interest Group, and proposals for a meeting planned for the AGA in Istanbul.
Please read more [pdf] about the outcomes of these meetings and our plans.
Initiatives That Will Progress to the Next Evaluation Stage of Elham Palestine Inspirational Program 2007/2008
There have been a total of 160 nominations, including 29 schools, 51 male candidates, and 80 female candidates, that have passed the initial stage.
Please click here [pdf] to see the distribution of initiatives among the Directorates of the government and UNRWA schools that have passed the initial stage.
UEF Hosts Pre-Conference Meeting at the 19th European Foundation Centre Annual General Assembly and Conference
The European Foundation Centre, an international association of foundations and corporate funders that works toward strengthening the foundation sector to advance the public good in Europe and around the globe, will hold its Annual General Assembly and Conference May 29th - 31st in Istanbul. In cooperation with EFC partner foundations, UEF will host a pre-conference meeting to discuss how European foundations can work together to build a global and inspirational movement toward education by all for the well-being of children, young people and those who surround them. This pre-conference event will build on a meeting held earlier in the year, at which several foundations - including the Mother Children Education Foundation, the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Evens Foundation and the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace - met in Paris to discuss and plan for how to achieve these goals.
UEF Publishes Report on Voice of Children Middle East 3-Country Study
In March 2008 UEF published a report of findings from the Voice of Children pilot study, which was carried out in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. This pilot was administered to 1,500 adolescents aged 15 to 16 in each country and results were analyzed by gender, school type, geographic region, and other factors. The report describes the process of VoC design and development, contextualizes the survey in UEF's overall vision and purpose, summarizes major findings, and provides detailed survey results in table form. More on the Voice of Children report.
Learning for Well-Being Forum
In order to promote Education by All for the Well Being of Children, the Universal Education Foundation is seeking to create an international forum on ‘Learning for Well Being’ which will bring together global and local actors from business, government and civil society, representing different learning environments, including media, ICT, education and healthcare. Read about the 2008 Pilot Forum in Palestine [pdf] or get more information.
Launching Elham Palestine
Elham Palestine, the inspirational program, was launched on December 11, 2007 at a meeting with the representatives of the education directorates of the Ministry of Education & Higher Education (MOEHE) and UNRWA from the West Bank and Gaza. More about this event and the Elham program.
UEF Signs Memorandum of Understanding with MOH and UNRWA
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Universal Education Foundation (UEF), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was signed on November 27, 2007 at the MOH building main hall in Ramallah. Within this agreement, UEF endeavors to work with MOH and UNRWA on implementing its programs including the Voice of Children, Elham, and the Learning for Well-Being Forum to be held in Palestine during the year 2008. More information on New Partnerships.
UEF Signs Cooperative Agreement with MOEHE and UNRWA
On November 1, 2007, UEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Ministry of Education & Higher Education (MOEHE) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Through this agreement, UEF will work with MOEHE and UNRWA to implement the Voice of Children and Elham Inspirational Programs, Learning for Well-Being Forum, and Internal & External Evaluation Processes. MOEHE and UNRWA will nominate representatives to develop action plans for these programs and will contribute to the customization, design, planning and implementation in Palestine. MOEHE and UNRWA will also be members of the Higher National Committee for the UEF Learning for Well-Being Forum, leverage the needed human resources towards the organization of the Forum, and serve on the Forum organizing committee. More information on New Partnerships.
UEF Youth Attend the UN's Global Alliance for ICT and Development Forum
The Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and the International Telecommunication Union held a Global Forum on Youth and ICT for Development: Youth and ICT as Agents of Change from 24-26 September, 2007. Palestinian youth working with UEF attended this conference and participated in debates and discussions with their peer representatives, policy makers, private sector, technology and others in exploring ways to empower the community and participate more fully in society through the appropriate and responsible use of ICT. Listen to the presentations by UEF Palestine or learn more about the UEF's participation on our Voice of Children webpage.
UEF Formalizes Partnership with Palestine Ministry of Education & Higher Education
On 11 September, 2007 a UEF delegation met with the new Palestinian Minister Ms. Lamees al-Alami to consolidate and confirm the partnership between UEF and the Ministry of Education & Higher Education. It was clear that it is of common interest for both organizations to be successful as this vision will reflect positively not only with quality outcomes for the Palestinian education system, but also for the educational environment in schools. The plans for launching “Elham Palestine” were discussed. More on New Partnerships.
New VoC Pilot Site in Wales
The first European pilot of the UEF program of activities was organized in Wales (UK), September 2007 through the establishment of Education by All for the Well-Being of Children – Wales for which UEF recently received the support of the Minister for Children. More on UEF's work in Wales.
National Consultative Meeting
The Universal Education Foundation (UEF) – Education by All for the Well-Being of Children – held its national consultative meeting on the 13th of May 2007 in partnership with the Ministry of Education & Higher Education, the Ministry of Health, UNRWA, Welfare Association, the Palestinian Union for Information Technology, and in cooperation with several NGOs and networks. Participants represented a wide spectrum of decision makers and activists in the fields of education, media, IT, communication, and health, as well as young people. At this meeting, the “ELHAM Palestine - Inspiration of Palestine” Program was introduced. More Elham updates and information.
