Amideast annonce
l’ouverture d’un programme du mepi qui offre des stages dans des entreprises
us a de jeunes femmes/ cadres du monde arabe, âgées de 22 a 30 ans.
Communiqué en Anglais
Mepi u.s. business internship program for young middle
eastern women summary: The bureau of educational and cultural affairs is
pleased to announce the fy 2004 competition for the middle east partnership
initiative(mepi) u.s. business internship program for young middle eastern
women. the program is designed to provide 40 talented young women, ages
22-30, an opportunity to learn management and business skills. the project
will include a four-week multidisciplinary academic orientation that will be
followed by internships in american corporations. participant recruitment
will be conducted by amideast. the deadline for applications is april 5,
2004. finalists will be announced in early may 2004. participants will begin
the program on august 1, 2004.
2. background: the fy 2004 mepi u.s. business internship program for
young middle eastern women is the inaugural year for the program. the
project is supported through funding from the middle east partnership
initiative (mepi). mepi is a presidential initiative to support economic,
political, and educational reform efforts in the middle east and champion
opportunity for all people of the region, especially women and youth.
3. program design: the program will begin on august 1, 2004, in washington, dc,
with a three-day orientation program. following the orienation participants
will attend a four-week interdisciplinary academic program, including
coursework in management, finance, accounting, business strategy, marketing,
organizational behavior, information technology, governance and ethics. on
or about september 1, 2004, participants will begin three or six-month
management internships, depending on their professional background, or
three-month entry-level internships in american corporations. cultural
enrichment and monitoring will be provided throughout the program. the
program will fund international and domestic travel, housing and living
stipends in the u.s., and health insurance. the u.s. portion of the program
will be administered by a u.s. non-profit organization and/or a u.s.
university. eca and nea/ppd are paneling proposals from 17 partner
organization program proposals that were received.
this eca panel will select the
u.s. partner organization in march 2004. copies of these proposals are
available from robert greenan (greenanrj@state.gov), if interested.
4. eligibility: the mepi u.s. business internship program for young middle
eastern women is open to participants between the ages of 22 and 30 from
algeria, bahrain, egypt, iraq (excluding iraqi expatriates), israel (limited
to the israeli arab sector), jordan, kuwait, lebanon, morocco, oman, qatar,
saudi arabia, syria (funding for syrian participant will come from eca),
tunisia, united arab emirates, west bank/gaza and yemen. the program is
intended for participants who have received, at a minimum, an undergraduate
degree from a recognized academic institution in one of the eligible
countries and have demonstrated an interest in professional growth in the
business sector of their economies.
applicants who are currently
enrolled in a u.s. academic program, who are living and/or working in the
u.s., and/or who have previously participated in a program sponsored or
funded by the u.s. government and who have not fulfilled their two-year home
residency requirement by the time of application are not eligible for
program. competition for the program will be open, merit-based, and fair to
all applicants. applicants will be evaluated based on academic excellence,
leadership potential, proficiency in written and spoken english (with a
minimum toefl score of 550), maturity, and flexibility and suitability to
operate successfully in an american corporate environment. selected
applicants must also demonstrate a sufficient level of information
technology knowledge and word processing ability to operate in a u.s.
business at the appropriate entry or management level.
5. recruitment: recruitment and nomination of candidates for this project are the
responsibility of amideast in collaboration with eca. amideast should work
closely with the u.s. embassy public affairs sections throughout the
recruitment and selection process, especially in those countries where
amideast does not have a permanent presence. recruitment will begin on
february 27, 2004. recruitment efforts will specifically target young middle
eastern women outside of the traditional urban areas in economically
disadvantaged sectors.
6. selection: in-country interview panels will be
comprised of representatives from the public affairs section of u.s.
embassies, embassy economic/commercial sections, locally qualified
businessmen/women, ngo officials, and alumni of usg exchange programs. a
review panel in washington d.c., including representatives of eca and mepi,
will make the final selection of participants. eca anticipates supporting40
participants.
7. pre-departure orientation: amideast will provide a
pre-departure briefing, including distribution of explanatory materials on
the u.s. given the heightened security issues facing foreign visitors and
travelers to the u.s., this pre-departure orientation may also include the
participants, immediate and extended families.
8. alumni activities: amideast will be required to promote communication and networking among the
alumnae through an enrichment workshop. this workshop will be held
approximately six months after the participants have returned to their
countries and will last 2-3 days. the exact date and location for the
workshop has not yet been determined. the workshop will enable the
participants to network and to advance the skill sets they acquired during
the internship project. amideast will also create and edit a quarterly
newsletter for the anticipated alumnae network. the contents will encompass
professional information as well as alumnae reports. the bureau and post
will be closely consulted during the development and implementation of the
alumnae activities.
9. additional information: ds 2019s for the program
participants will be issued by the u.s. partner organization. the program
does not support j-2 visa for spouses or dependents of program participants.
Eca and mepi look forward to working with posts on this new initiative.
questions should be directed to eca program officer robert greenan at : greenanrj@state.gov. powell .
