Near East Foundation

For 95 years, NEF has helped marginal social groups, people affected by conflict, and those isolated by their environments in the Middle East and Africa to build more prosperous, inclusive communities. These groups are excluded from participating in the economic and social advancement taking place around them. They lack access to educational opportunities and the power to influence public decision-making.  They are left behind—caught in poverty traps that prevent them from investing in their own economic or social development. NEF assists its local partners to participate more fully in the development of their countries—to build the lives they envision for themselves. Through training, technical assistance, and material support, NEF helps vulnerable communities:

• Access KNOWLEDGE necessary to participate fully in civic and economic life through education, job training, and literacy programs. Without basic knowledge, urban and rural poor alike have little prospect of taking advantage of new opportunities for employment and self-improvement. Their poverty and vulnerability to exploitation persists—often while society around them prospers. NEF education and training programs offer access to the basic knowledge needed to engage in civic and economic opportunities.
• Amplify their collective VOICE through community organizing and institutional strengthening initiatives. Many of NEF’s local partners have been excluded from public decision-making due to poverty, lack of education, gender or cultural norms, or geographic isolation. They have no seat at the table, and their lack of political power is both cause and effect of vulnerability. NEF helps establish and strengthen local organizations so they can take collective action and effectively represent their members. 
• Create ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY through enterprise development, micro-credit, and improved agricultural and natural resource management. Our approach to creating economic opportunity varies according to the social and economic realities of our local partners, and includes agriculture and natural resource management, value-added processing, small-scale commerce, and local service delivery.  In each case, NEF provides technical assistance to improve productivity, job and business development training, and micro-credit to help vulnerable people gain the knowledge and skills needed to earn a meaningful living and lift themselves out of poverty.

With an annual budget of approximately $5.5 million, NEF maintains projects in Armenia, Egypt, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Palestine and Sudan. In the field, approximately 70 NEF staff members—all of them from the countries in which they work—partner with local organizations to find homegrown solutions to their development problems. A small staff based in the U.S. provides program development, project management and administrative support.