Program Highlights

Ford Foundation Cairo Office Marks 50th Anniversary

Foundation remains committed to working with grantees to create opportunities in the region

10 September 2007 — The Ford Foundation is marking a major milestone — more than half a century of grant making in the Middle East and North Africa. Over the last five decades, we have awarded more than $200 million in grants to more than 350 institutions committed to fostering democratic values, alleviating poverty, strengthening higher education, advancing peace and promoting respect for diversity and pluralism in the region.

Established Record in Region

Over the years, our approach to grant making in the region has drawn on common historical, cultural and linguistic influences as well as the intertwined politics of the Middle East. The majority of our grant making in the region focuses on Egypt and the Palestinian territories. We work in consultation with leading researchers, academics, activists, civil society organizations and policy makers, adapting our programs to keep pace with the region's changing needs.

Building Institutions, Safeguarding Rights

The Ford Foundation office in the region is located in Cairo. The foundation opened a regional office in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1952 and a country office in Cairo in 1957. The office’s efforts have focused on key development gaps in the region and identifying opportunities to improve lives. The heart of our work is strengthening cooperation in addressing issues affecting the development process, such as conflict, poverty and unequal access to opportunities.

From the very beginning, we have been committed to building institutions in the region. Major foundation grants made during the 1950s and 1960s helped train professionals and establish institutions in such fields as public administration, economic planning, agriculture, family planning and higher education. Since the 1970s, the foundation has helped civil society institutions increase their ability to engage in regional and international cooperation efforts and to address critical political issues. In addition, we have supported independent research centers, think tanks, networks and forums for debate across the region.

In 1975, we began funding efforts to strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights. The initial focus was on researching customary law and providing legal assistance in Egypt, Sudan and the Palestinian territories. More recently, the foundation has funded efforts to promote human rights education, safeguard the rights of women and advance social and economic rights.

Exploring New Approaches

In the 1970s and 1980s, the foundation explored new avenues for alleviating urban and rural poverty as part of an effort to seek more direct ways to help people improve their lives. With Ford funding, a highly successful program introduced micro-credit lending. Repayment rates proved higher than for conventional loans, leading banks to expand significantly lending to small businesses in the 1990s.

Over the same period, we helped couples plan families and improve their children's health. A series of grants supported Egypt's national family-planning program and provided advisory assistance in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. Grants to Egyptian universities funded clinical research and the training of physicians, medical students, nurses and midwives. From the early 1990s, we supported a comprehensive approach to addressing sexual and reproductive health issues, including HIV/AIDS.

Ongoing Commitment

Today, the foundation makes grants in five key categories: Governance and Civil Society; Higher Education; Human Rights; Media, Arts and Culture and Reproductive Health. We also support smaller initiatives on Philanthropy and on Gender Equity, which addresses the role and status of women.

Over the last decade, our grants from the Cairo office have averaged approximately $15 million a year. We continue to support the region’s evolving needs with the benefit of 50 years of experience and a wealth of committed grantees and partners.

To learn more about our work from Cairo, read the Ford Foundation Cairo brochure.

For more information about additional work in the region, please visit www.fordfound.org/regions/middleeastnorthafrica/overview.