Injaz: Volunteerism ‘growing among Saudi professionals’

Injaz-Saudi Arabia plans to launch more initiatives on a broader scale and to invite many more companies and institutions to invest their time and effort in supporting youth and nurturing their creativity, all for the purpose of enhancing their contribution to the national economy, Nael Samir Fayez, CEO of Injaz-Saudi Arabia, told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
Injaz-Saudi Arabia’s programs, which are youth-focused, have reached more than 5,650 students to date.
The number will increase with the reach of the program across the Kingdom, Fayez said, adding that Injaz-Saudi Arabia programs are free of cost and are taught in classrooms via private sector volunteers in Saudi Arabia.
Highly experienced volunteers from the private sector invest their time, share their real-life experiences and success stories with the students in order to prepare them for work and productivity.
It also allows them to engage in professional life early on, developing their sense of citizenship and responsibility, Fayez said.
According to him, Injaz-Saudi Arabia’s vision is to pioneer and deliver hands-on programs to 250,000 Saudi youths, both male and female, by 2018.
In fact, Fayez adds: “Injaz-Saudi Arabia ranked first among Arab countries in growth and expansion, and fifth among 121 countries that implemented its JA (junior achievement) programs.”
Fayez says Injaz-Saudi Arabia’s 1,000 volunteers include business professionals, entrepreneurs, college students and parents. These dedicated individuals are the backbone of the organization.
“We are also inviting more companies and institutions to invest their time and effort in our programs.”
The company’s headquarter provides strategic direction, leadership and support to its current Kingdomwide operations in 20 cities — Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Alkhobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Yunbu, Abha, Khamis Mushayit, Tabuk, Mibriz, Hofuf, Samtah, Jazan, Abu Areesh, Skakah, Dumat Al-Jandal, and Hafr Al-Batin.
Injaz-Saudi Arabia is the local presence of Junior Achievement Worldwide; its MENA representation Injaz Al-Arab is based in Amman, Jordan.
Injaz Al-Arab was founded by Queen Rania of Jordan and is today the regional office of 15 Arab countries — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan and Yemen.
The programs promote business leadership skills among youth.
Fayez said Injaz-Saudi Arabia started its operations in 2009, with its programs for youth aged 10 to 24 years, both boys and girls.
Back in 2004, Queen Rania got exposed to the program in the US and she soon realized the value of what the Jordanian youth can benefit from such programs.
So she brought that program to Jordan and she translated the JA to Injaz and that is how the name Injaz came into being, he said.
Since then until today building on the best practice in Jordan, the program expanded into 14 MENA countries, across the GCC, the Middle East and North Africa.
Thus, Injaz-Al Arab is today is an umbrella organization for 15 countries, and that includes Injaz Saudi Arabia.
“What I want to emphasize is that though we are very proud of our achievements so far, the key strength of this program is that it doesn’t differentiate; whether Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Canada or Pakistan, the model remains the same. So one of the key strengths of this program is that we are part of an international franchise,” he added.
“The model for Injaz-Saudi Arabia is that we act as a bridge between the private sector and the public sector enabling the betterment of society,” Fayez said.
“We apply the PPP (public-private-partnership) model where private sector companies will see some value in sponsoring some CSR programs presented by Injaz Saudi Arabia,” Fayez said.
“We take sponsorship on the part of the private sector as a support in the delivery of programs,” he added.
The programs are based on three principles — entrepreneurship, work ethos and financial literacy.
“Everything we do is absolutely free of charge to end-users. So, there is no hidden cost,” he clarified.
“Everything is delivered through personal expertise. So there is no teacher, no principal, no trainer, no English teacher. It is a private sector professional who is coming from a bank or a telecom, retail or multinational company to share his own or her own experience with the students. So I totally believe that this is something unique about Injaz-Saudi Arabia,” Fayez said.
“All of our programs are delivered during school days and inside the school itself. This is not an after-school program, nor a weekend program; this is not an evening class nor a summer camp. This only happens with Injaz. This is in full partnership with the Ministry of Education.” he said.
“Our programs are commensurate with the Saudi curriculum. With the help of partners in the public sector, this is the greatest achievement,” Fayez said.
Asked about the role of the Ministry of Education, he said: “They are the regulators, they are the approvers and they are the partners who’s support has been adding great value to the program.”
In fact, Injaz- Saudi Arabia works in complete partnership with the Ministry of Education.
“We cannot do anything without their approval. The relationship with the Education Ministry, in the fourth year in operation, is matured,” said Fayez.
The ministry is enabling, preparing people of various ages to enter the job market.
The programs include training sessions, competitions and overseas trips.
“It is worth mentioning that we came back from Kuwait last December after our students’ participation in the regional competition of the company program.”
Speaking about the links between Injaz offices in the Kingdom, Fayez said: “We do meet regularly; we share digital, social platforms; we learn from each other. Most importantly the material is the same. So no country develops its own material.”
Fayez said no foreign students have participated in Saudi programs but our students participated in four regional competitions held in Oman, Morocco, Jordan and Kuwait.
“We look forward to the day when we host competition in Saudi Arabia,” Fayez said.
Beneficiaries from Injaz are not just students.
“I will eagerly highlight that the volunteers who go through the program have a learning experience. Our strategic goal is to spread the awareness for the cause of volunteerism in the Kingdom, in which unfortunately we lag behind.”
According to Fayez, more than 1,000 male and female volunteers have so far gone through the programs. That was a learning experience to them because every volunteer is trained and equipped with some soft and hard skills before going to the classroom.
Nevertheless, the major component of strategy of Injaz-Saudi Arabia is to promote partnership between the business sector and the public sector.
“We have educated many Saudi private sector companies about CSR,” said the CEO.
“We have educated many multinational companies about CSR. We have presented many local tangible opportunities for some multinational corporations such as Dow Chemical, GE and Coca Cola. The companies thought that they will never penetrate the Saudi market as it is a complicated one, and I am very proud that Injaz Saudi Arabia presented them with some robust tangible opportunities,” he added.
When asked whether there is any follow-up on the former students of the program, he said: “Our database has everyone who goes through the program. We do maintain a list of alumni”.
Injaz-Saudi Arabia offers 17 programs that are grouped into 5 initiatives for both genders.
“Our operational planning runs equally (50-50) for male and female,” Fayez said, adding that for the third year in a row, winners of the competition are female.
“I have trust and belief in the Saudi female; given the opportunity she will be able to excel and surprise everyone with the outcome. Saudi females are more appreciative of opportunities given to them,” he said.
Today’s Saudi women are well educated, smart exposed to these practices around the globe and they are waiting for the opportunities to excel. And they have the support of all ministries, in particular education, labor and social welfare.
“We also would like to mention the highlight of 2013 when we had the first ever Braille material for the visually impaired. We have been able to penetrate in 6 Saudi markets,” Fayez said.
About his expectations for 2014, Fayez said: “Firstly, to continue doing better and in a more efficient way; secondly, much more of the Saudi private sector will see the value in partnering and sponsoring Injaz programs; and thirdly, we expect to succeed in our efforts and initiatives to promote the culture of volunteerism among young Saudi professionals.”