Jordan to host Harvard conference on ‘initiatives reshaping Arab world’

AMMAN — Under the theme of “Building Tomorrow”, the 12th Annual Harvard Arab World Conference (HAWC) will discuss key issues such as entrepreneurship, education, healthcare and law next week, organisers said on Sunday.

To be held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah, the Harvard Arab Alumni Association (HAAA) is organising the event in Jordan for the second time on March 11 at the Dead Sea. 

The conference’s co-chair, Mohammad Hajjiri, said the conference aims at supporting small- and medium-sized businesses and start-ups through an admission seminar and a networking event.

Carine Abi Akar, vice president of the HAAA and co-chair of the HAWC, said the meeting aims at “exploring initiatives across the region that are reshaping the Arab world”.

“HAWC proposes several panels that bring together multi-disciplinary leaders to discuss the region’s tomorrow for future generations in healthcare, education, entrepreneurship, policy and law,” she told The Jordan Times.

Abi Akar added the conference will explore the power of the collective and its role in bringing positive change to local communities and the role of young people in shaping their future “to inspire transformation”.

“In every Arab country, the challenge of ensuring high-value employment for all young people is a top priority. The conference will focus on priority sectors in the host country, Jordan, looking at how this huge challenge can be met over the next 5-10 years.”

Abi Akar said the session will focus on Jordan in order to allow a targeted discussion that can lead to concrete outcomes. 

“Our speakers will bring experience from the top of government, the delivery of education, efforts to match young people with jobs and, of course, the voice of employers themselves.” 

Arab League special envoy to Syria and former Algerian foreign minister, Lakhdar Brahimi, Education Minister Omar Razzaz, Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab and human rights activist Mary Nazzal-Batayneh will be among the featured speakers, according to the organisers.

Algerian artist Souad Massi and former foreign minister Marwan Muasher will be featured on the law panel, while Sharif Zou’bi and Sharif Badawi will be speaking at the start-ups session. 

“The [healthcare] panel would discuss the importance and techniques of establishing an Arab medical task force that implements international guidelines for a more consistent healthcare delivery in treatment and management of diseases,” Abi Akar said.

“The guidelines would reflect the most recent and updated recommendations.”

As entrepreneurship and technology “serve as the agents of change”, she said they are the “disruptors of traditional industries”, with the increasing numbers of Harvard graduates seeking careers in the technology industry, surpassing more traditional career paths of finance and consulting.

For more information, participants can access www.sajilni.com.