New Study on Social Entrepreneurship Offers Recommendations to Support and Scale Social Innovations
The Middle East Youth Initiative and Silatech have released a new report: "Social Entrepreneurship in the Middle East: Toward Sustainable Development for the Next Generation." The study, part of the Taqeem project, represents the first comprehensive analysis of its kind addressing the state of social entrepreneurship and social investment in the Middle East and its potential for the region's 110 million youth.
The report presents recommendations for policymakers in the U.S. and the Middle East, private sector leaders, international donors, social investor organizations, and educational institutions. Tarik Yousef, Rick Little, and Samantha Constant write in the foreword to the report:
"[W]e believe that successful models encompassing the best practices of both private business and public social development activities will contribute significantly to achieving responsible economic growth in the region. Until now there has been no comprehensive attempt to delineate the extent of social entrepreneurship in the Middle East and to identify methods to encourage successful innovations at both local and regional levels. This report aims to start filling this gap and to launch a public discussion of what policies and practices can better enable the most promising social enterprises to flourish, with a focus on those led by or serving young people."
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Launch Event
On April 28, the report was launched at a public event hosted by the Brookings Institution featuring Kemal Derviş, vice president and director of Brookings’ Global Economy and Development program, Tarik Yousef, dean of the Dubai School of Government and senior nonresident fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings, Sonal Shah, director of the White House Office on Social Innovation, and an expert panel.
