Thirteen Middle East environmental groups and individuals, up from eleven last year, have received funding, and for the first time in Ford Grants’ three-year history in the region, winners were selected from all nine participating countries. The minimum grant was $2,000 and the largest $10,000.
First launched in the GCC in 2000, the Ford Grants were expanded to include Lebanon, Jordan and Syria last year. A nine-member jury, made up of government specialists and leading academics representing each participating Middle East country, chose nine winners from nearly 50 applications.
Winning projects ranged from a coral-monitoring program, run by the Emirates Diving Association in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to a project dedicated to the discovery and classification of certain types of flora in Lebanon. A special awards ceremony to celebrate the winners of this year's Ford Grants will be held in Dubai at the end of October.
The Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants evolved out of the Henry Ford European Conservation Awards, which have helped more than 15,000 projects since their inception in 1983. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
