20 New UAE Social Enterprise Projects to compete in Emirates Foundation ‘Kafa'at Social Enterprise Festival Weekend in Partnership with Impact Hub Dubai

• Emirates Foundation & Impact Hub Dubai to Co-host Social Enterprise Festival Weekend on February 26-27 2016

Dubai, UAE – February 14, 2016: In partnership with Impact Hub, Emirates Foundation, the national foundation of the UAE established to facilitate public-private partnerships for empowering youth, will be hosting a social enterprise festival weekend on 26-27 February, featuring 20 new projects by budding national entrepreneurs taking part in ‘Kafa’at Social Entrepreneurship Project.

The Social Enterprise Festival Weekend will begin with a Brands Bazaar showcasing the top social enterprise startups in the UAE and a facilitated World Café to map the social enterprise landscape. The top 20 teams on the Kafa’at Social Entrepreneurship Program will get the chance to present their products and services during the Bazaar.  The finalists will then present their projects on February 27th to a panel of prominent judges for a chance to be incubated by Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development.

The panel of judges includes Clare Woodcraft-Scott CEO of Emirates Foundation, Saeed Al Marri, Deputy CEO of  Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development (Dubai SME), Habiba Al Marashi CEO of Arabian CSR Network and Ramzy Ismail Programme Manager of Flat6labs Abu Dhabi. The festival also includes a group of speakers in the field of social entrepreneurship; Khalid Alkhudair - CEO of  Glowork and 1st place winner in the Emirates Awards for Arabian Gulf Youth 2015, Mishal Almarzouqi - Co-Founder of Factory of dreams, Faisal Al Hammadi and Hamad Al Shurafa - Co-Founders of  Slices, Alia Galadari - CEO of Shefaa Healthcare Network and  Abdulmuttalib (Talib) Hashim Founder of TBH Consultancy.

The festival is taking place after a four month technical training delivered by Impact Hub Dubai, where 50 of UAE’s socially minded entrepreneurs underwent boot camps, social impact clinics and webinars with global experts to learn how to develop innovative solutions to social and community challenges and to prepare for their pitches. 

The ‘Kafa’at Social Entrepreneurship Project is part of the Emirates Foundations’ mission to engage, empower and mobilize youth to become active contributors to the country’s socio-economic development.

Kafa’at programme is designed to promote positive career growth for Emirati Youth aged between 18 and 35. The programme aims to motivate them to develop their skills and capacities and enable them to compete effectively in the private sector work force. The programme was developed to respond to the market need for more youth to enter the private rather than the public sector.

Launched in April 2007, the programme delivers a range of career development projects and works in cooperation with stakeholders in corporate and academic institutions across the UAE. Kafa’at porjects include: Job Readiness, Discover the Private Sector, Kafa’at Internship Platform, Kafa’at Mentorship Platform, Kafa’at Youth Leadership Camp and Kafa’at Youth Entrepreneurship Project.

Maytha Al Habsi, Deputy CEO of Emirates Foundation, noted the importance of Social Entrepreneurship in the UAE as part of the Leadership’s vision to empower Emirati Youth to take leading roles within the labour market. She said “the Foundation’s programmes are very much in line with the nation’s vision and focus on empowering youth to understand and access the labour market through the creation of viable and scalable social enterprises.” She further emphasized the importance of working with the private sector to create opportunities for youth and to support them establish these enterprises. “This festival is a great example of how we can deploy expertise from the private sector to support our programmes and better empower youth ”she noted.