Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Center for Capacity Building Officially Launched

The newly established facility works on qualifying the young participants of the camp to obtain the Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge IT Skills Certificate

AMMAN--- August 18, 2009 --- Under the patronage of HE Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mr. Basem Rousan, the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Center for Capacity Building in the Gaza refugee camp near Jerash has been officially inaugurated today in the presence of Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) Mr. Richard Cook, UNRWA Regional Director.

The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Center for Capacity Building, opened in August 2008, offers the camp?s residents the Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge IT Skills Certificate program, in addition to English language skills training courses.
The Center is being established as an affiliate of a larger institution called the ?Gaza Camp Community Development Center? operating under the supervision of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In his opening remarks, HE Rousan said that the launch of a capacity building center in Gaza Camp complements the efforts of the Ministry that seek to create knowledge development in accordance with the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

He also expressed his hope that this step will be a significant addition to the efforts of developing communities and it is considered a turning point in the lives of these communities and a new window to globalization.

?Jordan, represented by the ICT Ministry, is working hard to create a positive developmental effect on education and capacity building in the field of communication and information technology especially in areas deprived from such services,? he added.

?Children and young people, whom we are meeting for their sake today, are the future agents and the most efficient and effective developmental investment, and when this category obtains the information and communication technologies through good training, this means we are helping them to progress,? HE Rousan elaborated.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his pleasure with this launch since it contributes to the qualification of young people in learning how to master computer and language skills, which are deemed basic requirements for the labor market.

?I believe that all the support provided by TAG-Org is part of its social responsibility towards the society,? Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.

?This is only the start and I hope this project will move to other Palestinians living in refugee camps,? he added.
In addition, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh announced the projects of TAG-Org to serve the Arab society in the fields of Information and Communication Technology which include the following: Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society,

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Refurbished Computers Center, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Encyclopedia (TAG-Pedia), Merging Information and Communication Technology into Education initiative.

In respect of TAG Refurbished Computers Center, established in cooperation with the UNRWA in Gaza Camp-Jerash, a hall has been set up to refurbish computers and build local capacities through training of newly Gaza Camp graduates. Moreover, new or used computers will be presented as a grant to schools in the camp and middle-income groups through the 12/500 initiative.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cook commended the role of TAG-Org in making this possible.

?TAG-Org has set an excellent example of corporate social responsibility applied to sustainable community development. This has complemented and strengthened the existing community development program of UNRWA, as well as reinforced the core mandate of the Agency to meet the human development needs of the Palestinian refugee community in Jordan,? Mr. Cook stated.

?This initiative will not only benefit this camp, but it is a unique situation here; there?s very high unemployment rate at 39% of the population and poverty levels are consequently high, with 64% living on less than $2 per person per day,? he added.

On September 1, 2008, a cooperation agreement was signed between TAG -Org and the UNRWA in order to provide a donation to equip and commission a facility for e-training in the Community Development Center in Gaza refugee camp.

The newly established facility works on qualifying the young participants of the camp to obtain the Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge IT Skills Certificate, and conduct a training program that consists of subjects such as Introduction to Information Technology, Word Processing using MS Word, Presentations using MS PowerPoint and others in addition to English language skills and other training courses.

On the sideline of the venue, HE Rousan distributed Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge IT Skills Certificates for Gaza Camp trainers (First Class) and certificates for participants in the preparatory workshops for Gaza Camp Strategic Plan.

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