Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation Announces Broader Scope for Sawaed 2009 / 2010 

Challenge Fund to Include New Category on Start-ups for Child Development 

Dubai: 11 October, 2009 - The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation today announced a new and broader format for the 2009 / 2010 edition of its flagship programme – Sawaed, which seeks to support and develop the capabilities of talented entrepreneurs across the Arab World through awarding non-refundable grants to projects that make a positive contribution to the region's growth. 

The announcement came at a glittering award ceremony for the winners of Sawaed 2008 / 2009 that was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In addition to awarding the innovative concepts of Bahrain-based IDEAS information technology solutions provider and Egypt-based Hindawi Publishing Corporation, the ceremony also acknowledged the role of the best seven mentors, jury members, as well as the top 10 finalists of Sawaed 2008 / 2009. 

Sawaed will retain the competition’s agenda of inviting ideas that leverage information and communication technology (ICT) for raising the standard of education in the Arab World. In its broadened format, it will also include a new category on Child Development and Education, opening the contest to start-ups and early stage companies that place education and child development at the core of their operations.                                                                                                             

In his keynote address, Sultan Lootah, Vice President for Employment and Entrepreneurship at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation said: “As one of our pilot initiatives, Sawaed seeks to promote business excellence, empower young Arabs to innovate, and facilitate job creation in the region. We are delighted with the response received by the programme, which validates the willingness of the private sector to rise to the challenge of developing unique ways for creating and sharing knowledge in the Arab World through information and communication technologies.  

“It is a well known fact that investing in child development has a positive impact on the social and economic development of a nation. The Arab World faces a major challenge in providing high quality early education. It is a segment that needs to be addressed if we are to develop an effective human capital capable of contributing productively to the development of the region. The inclusion of a new category for Sawaed 2009 comes out of our commitment to tackling problems at the grassroots level.”  

Interested participants are invited to submit their concept note on the Foundation’s website from 29 November – 31 December, 2009.  

To be eligible for the programme, participants must be citizens of one of the 22 Arab countries. The project leader would need to own or partner a commercial business activity or company registered in one of the 22 Arab countries. The bidding team, however, can be made up of a consortium of partners, including not-for-profit organizations. 

Launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in June 2008 as a ‘challenge fund’, Sawaed encourages businesses to compete for funding in response to a specific regional development goal. Each year, the programme aims to promote a regional challenge and invite businesses to submit competitive project concepts dedicated to addressing the challenge. Sawaed 2008 received 131 submissions from 16 countries.