SPARK updates:
November 2023
Take a look at what November was like for SPARK. From celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week to our global news from around the world. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, sit back, and enjoy!
Global Entrepreneurship Week: From Ideas to Impact 🚀
13-19 November 2023
SPARK celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week, a global campaign organised by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEW), aimed at celebrating and empowering entrepreneurs across the world. On this occasion, we showcased the remarkable stories of five entrepreneurs from around the globe.
Hear from our Expert, Mourad Hentati
“Entrepreneurship is a lever for youth to secure meaningful, economic opportunities. At SPARK, we enhance capacities and confidence of entrepreneurs, and build networks in ecosystems, fostering collaboration and employability. This approach generates sustainable jobs, systemically.”
Mourad Hentati, Regional Programme Director, SPARK
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
29th of November marks as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which provides an opportunity for the international community to show its support for Palestinians to live in peace and stability.
Right now, Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem are suffering. The humanitarian emergency is immense. We call for a permanent humanitarian ceasefire to ensure that civilians can begin rebuilding their lives.
Updates from Türkiye
📍DAHIL B2B Networking and Closing Event in Ankara marked the successful conclusion of the EU-funded DAHIL programme with the participation of the EU Delegation to Türkiye. The event emphasised connecting SMEs, fostering business relations, and exploring growth opportunities, especially for earthquake-affected SMEs.
📍Grant Support to SMEs in the earthquake-hit cities in Türkiye. The EU-DAHIL Programme allocates £375,000 to 40 earthquake-affected SMEs in southeast Turkey, with a focus on Hatay. In partnership with RRDC, the initiative selected businesses from Hatay, Gaziantep, Adana, and Şanlıurfa, prioritising the most impacted city, Hatay.
Meet our Entrepreneur of the Month, Ramy Bawadi 🎇
“Our project is the first ecological farm in Lebanon”
Ramy Bawadi, a Lebanese farmer with a background in landscape architecture, founded ‘Ramy’s Ecological Farm’ in 2019. His mission is to promote sustainable agriculture, combat climate change, and alleviate poverty in Lebanon, making it the country’s first ecological farm.
Somalia: Women's entrepreneurial journey in pastry 🥧
A group of aspiring women have recently completed a two-week pastry training, shaping their futures through the art of baking sweet goods. Through the LEAD programme’s Enterprise-Based Training, these emerging changemakers have gained skills to enhance both employment and entrepreneurship.
In other news
📍Lebanon: 128 graduates secured internships and 68 obtained paid jobs, addressing the education-to-employment gap and supporting youth on their career paths through STEP, in collaboration with partners, SPARK and Al Multaqa Foundation connected universities, companies, and experts, facilitating 395 students’ access to vocational skills. 📷Watch this video to find out more.
📍Iraq: Networks of Change is back and moving fast. We held a 6-day refresher for former youth campaigners in Erbil who have designed and organised awareness campaigns with SPARK since 2018! With this training, we looked back on the lessons learned and looked forward to new collaborations to raise our voices about the future of youth in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq!