About Us

“The rare a thing, the more its value increases, except knowledge; the more diffused the more valuable it is” Ali bin-Abi-Talib

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s (BA) mission is to be “a center of excellence for the production and dissemination of knowledge; and to be a place of dialogue and understanding between cultures and people”. In this light, the BA presents this Directory which emphasizes the importance of providing access to available information to all, and tackles the issue of philanthropy in higher education in the Arab world.

The Directory is the outcome of a mapping project by a group of young BA researchers examining and compiling information about donors from 13 Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. The researchers compiled and published the donors’ profiles whose philanthropic work operated from their countries to benefit their countries and the Arab region.

The donor’s profiles are updated and maintained regularly. Donors are offered the opportunity to update their programs and add their new initiatives through direct contact with the Project team. Moreover, it is available for new donors to join and appear in this online Directory.

Acknowledgment

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina acknowledges with deep appreciation the Ford Foundation Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt for their generous support of the Directory.

The BA would also like to wholeheartedly thank the participating donors in this Directory for coming forward and agreeing to publishing their profiles. Also, for their efforts in supporting higher education and offering the users the opportunity to get acquainted with their programs and other donors with an aim to boost this sector in the Arab Region.

Afterword

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina sincerely hopes that this Directory will pave the way to launching more initiatives to boost philanthropy in higher education in the Arab world, and to change the existing perspective of donors about the way to go about philanthropy.

Although this Directory includes many donor-funding schemes that exist throughout the Arab region, from several organizations. However, what is required is further awareness and outreach efforts of the availability of funds to students seeking higher education facilities.