Dubai (Union)
Over the years that followed its launch in 2017, the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative has transformed from an inspiring idea launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him”, into a real change tool that has changed the lives of many. And it created a better future for hundreds of thousands of young people in the Arab world, each of whom has become a success story that proves the ability of knowledge and owning its future tools to make a difference in the lives of individuals and societies.
The initiative, which was launched to embody the confidence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the dreams of Arab youth, and his ability to positively contribute to the development process of his societies, resonated from Egypt to Morocco, through Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, to Yemen and Libya, where the initiative succeeded in achieving its goal. The first and most important is to empower more than one million young men and women with future language skills, prepare programmers for the labor market, and encourage them to transform their ideas into technological projects that enhance their contribution to the development of society and make them an active element in the future industry.
Among the initiative are many inspirational stories told honestly by its owners, success stories that share a common denominator: the giving of the UAE that knows no boundaries and the determination to succeed that knows no impossible. These experiences confirm the pivotal role of the UAE in leading the development and digitization process in the Arab region with technological projects made by Arab citizens that serve humanity, enhance the quality of life and contribute more to building stable and prosperous societies and building the future.
An advertisement that changes Mahmoud’s life
From Syria to Jordan to Turkey, this is how the journey of Mahmoud Shahoud, the Syrian refugee engineer, began, after the war forced him to leave his country, in search of a better life. Mahmoud was on a date with a station that changed his career, opened new horizons for him, and gave him hope for a better tomorrow. Mahmoud says: “In 2018, I saw an announcement on the Facebook platform about the initiative of one million Arab programmers, so I participated in the initiative because I wanted to increase my knowledge in the field of website development, which was one of my least interests in previous years.”
Mahmoud asserts that the unique presentation of the content in the program enabled him to overcome the obstacle to learning web development, and the new skills he acquired helped him develop the Habit 360 application, which enables people to build new habits in their lives, follow their achievements and feelings and provides sufficient support to motivate them to change their lives for the better.
Faith creates better opportunities
Another notable success story in the initiative’s journey is the experience of Iman and Wajdi from Egypt, whose idea of working for long hours in an office outside the home away from her children has always been difficult for her, forcing her to spend 9 years at home to take care of her children, while she was doing various manual and household chores to support Her family is with her husband.
But everything changed after I participated in the initiative of one million Arab programmers in 2017. “At that time, I was working during the day on my home project to prepare food and deliver it to customers, and only after I put my children in their beds in the evening did I start studying late at night.”
Eman stresses that she learned a lot from the initiative, as she gained website and mobile application development skills that helped her transform her small business into a project that she manages using a mobile application.
Eman succeeded in expanding her project to the rest of Egypt, and more than 9,000 requests were submitted from Egyptian women to help her prepare food, a vivid example of the ability of innovative solutions to change the course of life of her divorcees, as well as the thousands around them.
future engineering
Perhaps the story of Ammar Salem, a university professor at the College of Architecture – University of Baghdad, is another vivid example in which the initiative demonstrated the ability of the will to change reality. For Ammar, the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative was a realistic translation of what he imagined for years. Although he was learning drawing and Arabic calligraphy while learning electronics and making models of aircraft, Ammar was always looking for a way to learn how to make 2D and 3D design programs, after spending years using them.
Ammar had the perfect opportunity to learn programming when the One Million Arab Coders initiative was announced, and he talks about that moment, saying: “I rushed to join it and I was one of the first students in it. My joy was indescribable when I first learned how to make my first Android app.” Thanks to the initiative, Ammar has so far developed more than seven programs and electronic games, including the “My Speaking Reading” program, whose number of users in one year exceeded two hundred thousand, in addition to the “A Cube” game, a game dedicated to developing the skill of imagination, and the “Talking Fingers” program » He has developed a new sign language in which the deaf can write and pronounce all letters and words by pointing with only two fingers in front of a device that converts those signs into spoken letters and words.
future knowledge transfer
The “One Million Arab Coders” initiative seeks to bring about a change in the attitudes of an entire generation, by transforming the million programmers into a scientific base that in turn transfers knowledge to the ocean and raises the capabilities of those around them. This is indeed what the Libyan Omaima Kilani, who describes herself as an “advocate of girls in Libya”, has achieved. .
Omaima graduated in the initiative, and obtained a “Nano Degree” certificate, after which she founded the SheCode charity, which teaches girls programming language and empowers them.
Omaima’s dream did not stop there. After receiving the certificate, she focused her efforts on eradicating technical illiteracy in her country, and founded the “My Mother” platform, which focuses on teaching programming and business management for both sexes.
Programming to save a life
Programming is not only a means of self-realization, providing new job opportunities or increasing income, but it can actually save people’s lives, and this is what the Yemeni Marwan Al-Hakimi, one of the first graduates of the initiative, has actually experienced, whose new acquaintances enabled him to develop 7 applications to teach languages for free.
Thanks to the programming skills he gained from the initiative, Marwan explains that he “worked on developing another application to solve the mine problem in Yemen, by warning passersby of areas where mines are spread, and calling on the relevant authorities to comb and clean the area.”
Marwan’s experience in searching for ways to save the lives of others through programming is not different from the experience of the Lebanese youth, Rayan Al-Morabi, who lives in the UAE, and who turned his graduation in the tracks of the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative into an opportunity to save the lives of patients who need organ transplants.
Ryan worked on the development of the Dhonor application, which uses blockchain technology to organize the organ donation process, eliminate organ trade and connect donors with patient beneficiaries. Rayan is currently cooperating with the UAE Ministry of Health in this field.
Investing in education
The experience of the Palestinian Amin Abu Dyaq is also one of the inspiring experiences in the field of social change. Three months after his graduation from the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative, the “Jusoor” platform saw the light on his hands to start its services by providing the finest international educational curricula for students in the West Bank, through During classes based on virtual reality technologies.
Thanks to the skills he has acquired, Amin is currently cooperating with the UAE Ministry of Education to develop virtual reality education projects in the UAE.
New hope for people of determination
The experience of the Moroccan Hassiba Mensett, who is one of the people of determination, represents a real light that emphasizes the importance of empowering all members of society to achieve sustainable and comprehensive development.
However, her participation in the “One Million Programmers Initiative” allowed Hassiba, after her graduation, to develop new skills and gain advantages over her peers in the labor market. Hassiba asserts that “her capabilities have developed a lot and she was able to obtain a nano-degree scholarship.”
These real stories are just a quick look at a number of pioneering experiences that changed the lives of their owners and those around them and opened up new horizons and unique opportunities for them to upgrade their abilities and develop their opportunities through programming.
The stories embody the vision of the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative, which was launched to achieve a clear goal: qualifying a new generation of Arab youth capable of benefiting from the knowledge economy and creating future opportunities for themselves and their communities.
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