Middle East and North Africa
History
The foundation has been making grants in the Middle East and North Africa for more than half a century. Over the years, we have adapted our programs to keep pace with the region's changing needs. Collaborating with leading researchers, academics, activists and policymakers, our staff has identified emerging opportunities and developed effective strategies to address a range of pressing issues. Our grant makers are primarily professionals and administrators from the region.
Strengthening Key Institutions
After opening a regional office in Beirut in 1953 and a country office in Cairo in 1959, major grants made throughout the Arab region during the 1950s and 1960s helped train professionals and build institutions in such fields as public administration, economic planning, agriculture and family planning. Many early grants also focused on strengthening higher education through research, faculty training and library acquisitions.
Since the 1970s, the foundation has helped organizations to engage in local, national, regional and international efforts to address critical issues, such as food security through improved land and water management, urban and rural poverty alleviation, gender equality, and maternal and child health.
Addressing Critical Issues
Our regional office transitioned from Beirut to Cairo in 1975. Today, our grant making focuses on helping the poor and other underrepresented groups—particularly women and youth—to overcome exclusion through a rights-based approach to development. Our work emphasizes building institutional capacity, supporting knowledge production and promoting the growth of networks for social change. We fund efforts to expand access to safe and affordable housing and health care; knowledge of and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights; quality higher education; free expression through the arts; and the right to information about government spending.
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