In preparation for the Arab Knowledge Report 2010/2011 

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and UNPD hold a workshop in Yemen 

Dubai, 4 August 2010 – The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Regional Bureau for Arab States have recently held a workshop in the Yemeni Capital Sana'a, in preparation for the second edition of the Arab Knowledge Report 2010/11 entitled “Preparing Future Generations for the Knowledge Society.” 

The workshop, held under the patronage and in the presence of the Yemeni Education Minister Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Jofi, was attended by Abdullah Matar Al Mazroui, UAE Ambassador to Yemen and a number of experts including Dr. Sabria Al Thor, the case writer of Yemen. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation was represented by Sultan Lootah, Executive Director for Entrepreneurship and Dr. Ghaith Fareez, Director of the Arab Knowledge Report.  

The workshop is the third of a series of workshops, seminars and field studies conducted in five Arab countries; the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen. The Arab Knowledge Report 2010/11 builds on the first report issued last year and was entitled Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge. The series of reports are issued by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in cooperation with the Regional Bureau for Arab States at UNDP.  

Adel Al Shared, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation said: “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has set up this Foundation with the aim of finding solutions to challenges facing sustainable development in the Arab World.” 

“The Arab Knowledge Reports will help us analyse and identify opportunities and risks inherent in the acquisition, production, creation, and deployment of knowledge in the Arab World,” Al Shared added. 

In his speech, Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Jofi expressed his appreciation for the initiative by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and UNDP for organizing the workshop in Yemen. He added: “Yemen is doing immense efforts to raise the education standards in the country. We are committed to the strategies we have set to reduce the number of failing students, cut down the percentages of drop outs and reduce the gender gaps.”

Dr. Ghaith Fareez, Director of the Arab Knowledge Report commended the strategic partnership between UNDP and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and said: “Today’s workshop in Yemen is the third of its kind in preparation of the Second Arab Knowledge Report. These workshops translate a very important principle we adopt which is involving as many experts as we can from different Arab countries in order to examine various views and approaches.” 

The First Arab Knowledge report was released during the Arab Strategy Forum in 2009. The report can be downloaded from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation’s website www.mbrfoundation.ae