Al Maarefa University’s Commitment to Fighting Poverty: A Step Towards Sustainable Development.

Poverty is a global challenge that affects millions of individuals and communities, hindering their access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, education, and healthcare. As part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 1 aims to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. In Saudi Arabia, Al Maarefa University has taken significant steps to contribute to this goal through various initiatives and programs aimed at alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development within the local community.

Understanding Poverty:

Poverty is a multifaceted issue that encompasses not only economic hardship but also social, cultural, and political factors. It often leads to a cycle of deprivation, affecting generations within a family and limiting their potential to escape its clutches. Addressing poverty requires comprehensive strategies that focus on education, healthcare, employment opportunities, and social support systems.

Al Maarefa University’s Approach:

Al Maarefa University, located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, recognizes the importance of education as a means to uplift individuals and communities out of poverty. The university has aligned its efforts with the SDGs, specifically targeting Goal 1, and has implemented various measures to address poverty from multiple angles.

Quality Education:

Al Maarefa University offers a range of educational programs that provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in various fields. By ensuring access to quality education, the university equips students with the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty and create a better future for themselves and their families.

Skill Development and Vocational Training:

Recognizing that skills play a crucial role in employability, Al Maarefa University has developed vocational training programs that focus on practical skills needed in the job market. These programs help individuals acquire skills that make them more competitive and increase their chances of finding stable employment.

Community Engagement:

The university actively engages with the local community through outreach programs, workshops, and awareness campaigns. By collaborating with local organizations and stakeholders, Al Maarefa University creates a platform for dialogue and action, identifying specific needs and tailoring solutions to combat poverty effectively.

Research and Innovation:

Al Maarefa University emphasizes research and innovation as essential tools for addressing poverty. Through research projects and initiatives, the university contributes to generating knowledge and innovative approaches that can drive sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Scholarships and Financial Assistance:

Understanding that financial constraints can hinder access to education, Al Maarefa University offers scholarships and financial assistance to deserving students. By reducing the financial burden, the university ensures that talented individuals, regardless of their economic background, have the opportunity to pursue higher education.

Al Maarefa University’s commitment to addressing poverty aligns seamlessly with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1. Through its multifaceted approach that emphasizes education, skill development, community engagement, research, and financial support, the university contributes significantly to breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. By nurturing a generation equipped with knowledge, skills, and a sense of social responsibility, Al Maarefa University paves the way for a brighter, more equitable future for individuals and communities alike.

First Goal: Eradicate Poverty

 https://www.um.edu.sa/ar/node/239

The eradication of poverty in all its forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Although the number of people living in extreme poverty more than halved between 1990 and 2015, from 1.9 billion to 836 million, many are still struggling to meet basic human needs. Globally, more than 800 million people still live on less than $1.25 a day, many of whom lack adequate food, clean drinking water and sanitation.

Al-Maarefa University has worked to provide scholarships for students who cannot complete their university studies within the controls and instructions published on the university’s website, as well as the university has signed many agreements with charitable organizations for this purpose and to help needy students.

Agreement of the Charitable Society for Orphans Care (Ensan) and Al-Maarefa University

Al-Maarefa University signed a memorandum of understanding for joint cooperation with the Charitable Society for Orphans Care “Ensan” on Tuesday, 23/04/2019 at the university’s headquarters in the southern hall of Sudair, where this agreement comes as an embodiment of the comprehensive renaissance experienced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at all levels, especially the health and education sectors, and to complete the message carried by the two parties, and as a contribution to building a knowledge and scientific society, and enhancing integration and participation between them in the frameworks of knowledge exchange And practical application, and since the reality of providing health services and building a knowledge society requires concerted and integrated efforts in everything that would advance these aspects, which enhances the importance of this agreement, and the importance of concerted efforts to achieve the goal of the agreement, and since the University of Knowledge is an academic scientific training institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, and it educates, trains and qualifies high school graduates to obtain a bachelor’s degree in medicine, surgery, pharmacy and the various health and technical specialties that you need All government and private sectors and the equivalent programs and training courses.

Sheikh Saad bin Abdulaziz Al-Othman Award for Outstanding Students

Humanitarian Action and SDG Hackathon

It is a competition in which social specialists, programmers, engineers and interested young people in different disciplines meet for the purpose of carrying out pioneering innovative work in the sectors of humanitarian work, namely: food security and nutrition, health, shelter and non-food items, education, water and environmental sanitation, early recovery, protection, camp management and coordination, emergency communications, logistics. This is to develop sustainable solutions to reduce the challenges facing donors, United Nations organizations and civil society organizations in implementing relief and humanitarian projects in advanced and innovative ways to provide services to beneficiaries in disaster and crisis areas.

Objectives of the Hackathon

·        Introducing the goals and sectors of humanitarian work and the seventeen sustainable development goals

·        Promoting a culture of social innovation and spreading awareness of humanitarian work and sustainable development goals

·        Embracing creative ideas for humanitarian work to develop and turn into social entrepreneurship with social impact and successful economic feasibility in this field

·        Training on creative work in finding innovative solutions and creating new ideas to meet the challenges of humanitarian work and achieve its goals and sustainable development goals

·        Building the capacity of young participants in cooperative work, sharing skills among them, and developing their talents in creativity and innovation in order to achieve the goals of humanitarian work

·        Knowledge management among young people to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in humanitarian action

·        Motivating and developing the capabilities and talents of young people in systematic humanitarian volunteer work professionally according to the best international practices

Humanitarian Relief Sectors:

1.      Food Security

2.      Nutrition

3.      Health

4.      Shelter and non-food items

5.      education

6.      Water and Environmental Sanitation

7.      Early recovery

8.      Protection

9.      Camp Management and Coordination

10.   Emergency Telecommunications

11.   Logistics

Low Income student support

UM supports the students from low-income families to complete their studies, through different subsidize schemes. For example, UM has contract with a third party to provide low price menu food for student. UM have a contract with “qawafal alrushd” company to provide student with special discount for transportation, for the same purpose UM also has an agreement with Uber and Kareem companies. Al Maarefa University appointed “Alnadhir” law firm to assist the university staff and student including the low income.

·        UM provides financial aid to local and international students to facilitate their study as well as other compensations related to food, transformation, accommodation, health and others.

·        UM provides the students with financial support to help them start their businesses, through baying survives from them as a start-up financial assistance.

Sulaiman Al Rajhi Foundation for Development Finance

Are you a student of Al-Maarefa University?

You can now benefit from Maslak Fund.

Knowledge University seeks to prepare competencies qualified to participate

In building a knowledge economy, stimulating creativity, and scientific excellence

#مسلك_الشركاء #مسلك_يسهلها_عليك

Maslak loan Initiative

Regular Students Scholarship

STUDENT GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING

 – Follow-up students academically by holding counseling sessions to uncover the causes of academic struggles and/or recurring absences, whether social or psychological, and preparing a treatment plan for each case separately.

– Raising awareness among students by producing preventive awareness brochures, stimulating media channels, and establishing and organizing enlightenment programs.

– Providing individual counseling for students: by following up on cases that need support, whether social or psychological, by organizing individual counseling sessions that the student counselor conducts in complete confidentiality, and preparing a treatment plan to solve the problem.

– Respond to students’ consultations and concerns with complete confidentiality via email.

UM support student who participates in community services 

·        #يحدث_الآن تقيم وحدة #الخدمة_المجتمعية في #جامعة_المعرفة بالتعاون مع جمعية إنسان مائدة إفطار لأبناء جمعية إنسان 

Patient Care Association for Health

University of Refugees UniRef

#جامعة_المعرفة received a Swiss delegation from the University of Refugees UniRef (interested in teaching refugee students around the world), where the general supervisor, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mulhim meeting with the President of the University: Evelyn Wood, in the presence of a number of university employees

Ways of cooperation between the two universities to provide humanitarian services to refugees around the world were discussed.

Cloth Donation Campaign

under the slogan #اذا_ماتبيها_تبرع_فيها

The management of #المسؤولية_الاجتماعية in #جامعة_المعرفة in cooperation with the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Charity Association organizes a campaign to donate new and used clothes.

Al-Maarefa University signs a memorandum of understanding with the Financial System Alliance

In continuation of strengthening the strategic partnerships that AlMaarefa University is interested in achieving in terms of its social responsibilities, a partnership contract was concluded with the Financial System Alliance (Meeza Program) that includes supporting the employees of the financial system by granting its employees and their families special discounts from tuition fees at the university, as well as courses offered by the university’s Business Center.

This alliance includes the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the Ministry of Finance, the Capital Market Authority, the Zakat and Income Authority, the Saudi Customs Authority, as well as the General Authority for State Real Estate.

The MoU was signed by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Mojil, Director of the Communication Department, and the University was represented by His Excellency Prof. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Zamil, Dean of Admission, Registration and Student Affairs, at the University’s headquarters in Diriyah on Tuesday, August 20, 2019.