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Between May 3 and May 7, 2021, ‘Catalyst 2030’ organized the annual event “Catalysing Change Week - 2021” where social entrepreneurs, representatives from the private sector, funders, and other agencies involved in systems change gathered to showcase their work and the best practices that can accelerate the effort in pursuit of the SDGs.

The Inauguration Session officially opened Catalysing Change Week 2021. The Ceremony featured Ms. Krista Mikkonen, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland, and Dr. Omar Razzaz, Former Prime Minister, Jordan. Many social entrepreneurs shared about their sessions to co-create impact.

The programme included five days of online ‘Catalysing Change’ sessions whereas one of the sessions was dedicated to “Social Entrepreneurship in MENA.”

The speakers were as follows: Amin Nehme, Lebanese Development Network - LDN (Lebanon), Jihen Boutiba Mrad, Buisnessmed (Tunisia), Rania Habib, Business Women of Egypt 21 Association (Egypt) and Rana Dajani, We Love Reading (Jordan). The session was moderated by Jackie Maalouf, President of   The National Diabetes Organization – Dialeb (Lebanon) and 'Catalyst 2030' MENA Co-Chair.

This session seeks to understand why people don't identify as Social Entrepreneurs, even though they meet the usual parameters. Is it a matter of definitions or personal and community perceptions? We will hear from MENA Social Entrepreneurs themselves about the challenges they face.

Catalyst 2030 is a global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators from all sectors who share the common goal of creating innovative, people-centric approaches to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.