Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 1 June 2022 - President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Group Chairman, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, has officially launched IsDB’s Economic Empowerment Portal and the Arabic Translation of the Three (3) Economic Empowerment Toolkits for Financial Institutions, both developed by the Economic Empowerment Department (EED) under its Solutions Engineering and Entrepreneurial Design (SEED) Program.

The SEED Program is aimed at developing approaches, tools, manuals, and IT/fintech solutions to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the design and implementation of Economic Empowerment operations in IsDB’s Member Countries.

In his keynote address, the IsDB President stressed “the necessity of building the right ecosystems for an active and efficient contribution by governmental, private and third sector actors in building back better and for the benefit of all”.

Launch of the Economic Empowerment Portal

Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser then officially launched IsDB’s Economic Empowerment Portal, while underlining the fact that this portal “is a means for the Bank to share with the general public the fundamentals of the Bank’s Economic Empowerment Approach, the Initiatives that the Bank has worked or currently working on and most importantly…the fruit of more than 20 years of experience in dedicated poverty alleviation interventions encapsulated in lectures, conferences, and detailed step-by-step toolkits and reports”.

Launch of the Arabic Translation of 3 Economic Empowerment Toolkits Dedicated to Financial Institutions

The IsDB President then officially launched the Arabic Translation of the Three (3) Economic Empowerment Toolkits for Financial Institutions.

These toolkits were initially launched in their English version during the 2021 IsDB Group Annual Meetings in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). They provide step-by-step guides on Economic Empowerment Design, Islamic Financial Product Implementation, and Monitoring and Evaluation.

In his concluding remarks, the IsDB President invited the development stakeholders to join hands to develop the necessary eco-systems needed to build a better future for the disadvantaged and the destitute. He also stated that IsDB’s Economic Empowerment Approach is one of the pioneering transformations needed to contribute significantly to the global challenges such as employment creation and poverty alleviation.

While announcing that a French Translation of the Economic Empowerment Toolkits should follow very soon, the President expressed hope that “everyone can benefit from the knowledge content that the Bank is sharing with the public, today and that it will serve in setting the best practices for the industry”.