Citi Foundation and Education For Employment Expand Partnership in Fifth Year Supporting Youth Employment in North Africa and the Middle East

Focusing on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Morocco.

Education For Employment (EFE), the leading youth employment organization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Citi Foundation have expanded their partnership for a fifth year to create job and economic opportunities for unemployed youth in the MENA region, including in two new markets. The partnership reflects Citi and EFE’s shared belief that with the right skills and economic opportunities, young people can transform their lives, and uplift their families and contribute to their communities.

The EFE-Citi Foundation partnership is part of the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress approach designed to prepare urban youth with the career readiness tools and opportunities to thrive in today’s economy. This year, a total of 370 youth will be trained on a digital work readiness curriculum, including 150 youth from Morocco and Tunisia respectively, as well as 40 youth from Saudi Arabia and 30 youth from the UAE, marking the first time EFE and Citi partner to train youth in the Gulf states. Over 260 of the trainees will access additional in-classroom training in employability, soft skills and technical skills. Over 75% of these youth will be linked to full-time job and internship opportunities – a unique element of EFE’s model.

Andrew Baird, President & CEO of EFE, commented that, “Today, over 58,000 EFE alumni have entered the world of work, experiencing the pride and hope of employment, while helping their families, businesses and communities to thrive. Our partnership with the Citi Foundation, now in its fifth year, has catalyzed our impact, both through directly enabling us to train youth and link them to jobs, and through helping us to build the systems and organizational infrastructure that we need to bring our work to scale.”

Karim Seifeddine, Public Affairs and Government Relations Head, Middle East and Africa, Citi, remarked that "young people continue to face high rates of unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa and Citi Foundation announced in February 2017 the global expansion of its Pathways to Progress initiative with an additional $100 million commitment over the next three years. This is Citi’s largest philanthropic commitment ever to impact the lives of 500,000 youth globally and to help the next generation become the most employable ever. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with EFE for the fifth year to achieve our goals and support programs that help young people build financial and workplace skills, and begin to engage in the formal economy through a first job.”

The expanded partnership builds on a track record of successful EFE – Citi Foundation collaboration beginning in 2013. Since then, the Citi Foundation has enabled EFE to train hundreds of Moroccan and Tunisian youth in demand-driven skills such as sales, healthcare, and professionalism in the workplace. Funding from the Citi Foundation paired with other supporters such as Accenture Foundation and The MasterCard Foundation helped over 440 youth in Morocco and Tunisia to secure jobs at companies ranging from major multinationals to local SMEs.

Beyond providing direct program support, the Citi Foundation has played a unique and crucial role in enhancing the efficacy of the EFE Network. The Citi Foundation enabled EFE to develop systems for building and maintaining relationships with employers and partners, and has helped EFE-UAE to become a regional hub for securing opportunities for our graduates across the MENA region. Citi Foundation’s support has contributed to the EFE Network’s success in reaching the key milestone of directly placing 13,700 youth in jobs, and preparing over 44,000 more to become micro-entrepreneurs or successful job seekers.

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

About Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's “More than Philanthropy” approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit www.citifoundation.com.

About Education For Employment (EFE)

Education For Employment (EFE) is the leading youth employment network in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). To create job opportunities for unemployed youth, EFE provides market-driven skills training that leads directly to jobs, startup support and pathways to employment. Since 2006, EFE has pioneered a demand-driven approach to helping over 13,700 unemployed, high potential youth to secure their first job while supporting more than 2,400 businesses to obtain the entry-level talent they need to grow. An additional 44,000 more EFE alumni are ready to become micro entrepreneurs or successful job seekers. Over 55% of EFE’s graduates are young women, reflecting EFE’s special focus on supporting women’s entry into the workforce. The EFE Network is comprised of locally-run EFE affiliates in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with support hub offices in the USA (New York City and Washington, DC), Europe (Madrid) and the UAE (Dubai). To learn more, please visit www.efe.org and follow @EFE_Global.