16-11-2014
INJAZ Palestine and NBC launch the Sixth season of "Ripples pf Happiness" Program
In partnership with Coca-Cola Fundadtion and in cooperation with the National Beverage Company Coca Cola/Cappy, INJAZ Palestine recently launched the sixth season of Ripples of Happiness Program, aiming at training university students to implement social entrepreneurial projects that will have positive effects on their local communities.
The launching of "Ripples of Happiness" Program comes in line with the well-established strategy of both Coca-Cola Foundation and INJAZ Al-Arab which aims at empowering the youth and promote their concepts of social responsibility. Coca-Cola Foundation has been supporting sustainability events in 206 countries all over the world since its inception on 1984.
The program events were launched concurrently in six Palestinian universities: the Arab American University, Al-Quds Open University- Hebron, Palestine Technology University–Kadoori, Al-Najah Natioanl University, Palestine Technology Girls College–Ramallah, in addition to some other Arabic universities.
The students participating in "Ripples of Happiness" program are provided with an opportunity to be familiar with a wide range of the basic concepts and most important principles of social corporate responsibility in order to prepare them to join the labour market. The students also participate in activities that are focused on sustainability, in order to make a positive impact on their local communities through training and mentorship courses offered by volunteer consultants from Palestinian private companies.
Mrs. Randa Ramhi Salameh, General Manager of INJAZ Palestine, emphasized the importance of engaging students - while still at schools- in such programs that provide them with the opportunity to create and implement community projects that enrich their leadership skills and promote their entrepreneurial spirit.
Mr. Imad al-Hindi, General Manager of the National Beverage Company Coca-Cola/Cappy, confirmed that the Company was keen to contribute to promoting the capacities of university students, providing them with the necessary requirements for the development of their local communities and positively impact them.
Coca-Cola Foundation is keen to support the projects submitted by the participating students from the various colleges and universities and motivating them to continue such projects by providing a financial grant for the project that attains the title of "Best Project", based on the selection of an independent referee committee comprising representatives of Coca-Cola Foundation and INJAZ Al-Arab. The grant aims to enable the owners of the project to continue and expand the scope of implementation.
It should be noted that since 2012 the program was implemented in more than 9 Palestinian universities and colleges, with the participation of 450 students. More than one group of Palestinian students won the offered grants for their innovative projects at the level of the Arab competing universities.
When the "Ripples of Happiness" Program was first launched in 2012, it was implemented only in 5 countries with two universities participating in each country. Today, the Program is strongly present in six countries and includes four universities in each.
The Program is concurrently implemented in Palestine, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. 44 universities and more than 600 students from these countries are participating in the Program. The last season of "Ripples of Happiness" Program witnessed the participation of 68 teams compared to 24 teams when it was first launched.
