Qatar Charity and Doha-based social initiative Silatech have signed a Memorandum of Understanding towards working together to promote engagement, employment and enterprise development for young people in the region.

The agreement commits the parties to mutually support selected projects and initiatives related to youth development through marketing and fund-raising campaigns, technology and infrastructure, technical assistance and other avenues.

The two parties will explore ways of supporting the new Narwi e-giving Web portal currently being developed by Silatech through the creation of a Qatar Charity Matching Fund to match donations gathered online.

Scheduled for launch later this year, Narwi will be the first online micro-giving platform created by Arabs for Arabs. It will allow visitors to the site to directly contribute toward financing the young Arab entrepreneur of their choice. Selected youth development projects of Qatar Charity outside of Qatar may also be showcased on the Narwi portal for crowdfunding opportunities.

Silatech CEO Dr Tarik M Yousef said: “I believe the partnership between Silatech and Qatar Charity is a major step, and the beginning of a fruitful collaboration. Our organisational strengths mutually complement each other very well, but perhaps most importantly, we both recognize the need to promote innovative new approaches to charitable giving, promoting sustainable long-term development for the Arab world.”

Qatar Charity CEO Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Kuwari said: “This agreement will enhance the efforts of the two organizations for the development of the youth sector at several levels as a service to the Qatari society as a whole and youth in particular.”

Silatech will look to provide technical assistance in designing and implementing selected youth-focused Qatar Charity projects in the region such as its virtual work program in Palestine, income generating and livelihood projects, training and skills development programming and volunteering initiatives.

Given its large community of supporters, meanwhile, Qatar Charity can provide access to fundraising and other resources for Silatech initiatives which complement and support its mission.

Qatar Charity and Silatech also agreed to explore possible cooperation in technology and infrastructure, data and knowledge sharing, field partner and beneficiary selection, social media and marketing, online funds transfers, and a variety of other possible avenues. – TradeArabia News Service