FURTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Lifetime Achievement Prize

For the past three years the Saïd Foundation has awarded a Lifetime Achievement Prize to former scholars who have made an outstanding contribution to their fields and to development in the Middle East.

In 2011, the Foundation presented a lifetime achievement award to Professor Fawaz Gerges. Fawaz received a scholarship for an MSc in International History at London School of Economics in 1985, followed by a DPhil in International Relations at the University of Oxford. Since that time, he has taught at Oxford, Harvard and Columbia universities and is currently director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. Fawaz is a leading researcher and commentator on Islamist movements and is the author of numerous acclaimed books including Journey of the Jihadist which was on best-selling lists for months. He is also the recipient of prestigious MacArthur, Fulbright and Carnegie Fellowships.

In 2010, the Foundation awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr Adnan Al Wahaidi from Gaza. Adnan was supported by the Foundation in 1996/97 for an MSc in Mother and Child Health at the Institute of Child Health, University of London. He is now Medical Director of Ard El Insaan, a Palestinian NGO which treats children suffering from malnutrition and provides free preventive and curative health and nutrition services to children from some of the poorest communities in the Gaza Strip.

The knowledge Adnan obtained in the UK enabled him to work far more effectively for Ard El Insaan and, over the years, he has had to put his skills into practice under the most difficult circumstances. During the Israeli attacks on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009, Adnan volunteered round the clock at Gaza's Shifa Hospital treating the injured and dying. It is the consequences of the continuing blockade, however, that have been most severe for babies and young children and the rates of child malnutrition and stunting have increased. Adnan has dedicated himself to alleviating the suffering of these vulnerable children and is now a recognised expert on the nutritional health situation of children in Gaza.

In 2009, the Foundation awarded the first Saïd Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Wassim Maziak (pictured right).

Wassim is from Aleppo, Syria and was supported by the Foundation in 1996 for a year of research at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London. On completion of his research, he returned to Aleppo and embarked upon two years of study into tobacco smoking in Syria. He was then awarded an Alexander von Humbolt fellowship to conduct research at the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine in Germany.

In 2002, with funds from the US National Institute of Health, Wassim established the Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies, which he now directs. The Centre is a pioneering research and capacity building institution and has become a centre of excellence in public health in the region. Centre representatives have held discussions with the Syrian Ministry of Health about anti-smoking campaigns in the country.

Wassim is a rising star on the international public health scene. He was invited to write an essay on the current status of Arab science for the prestigious journal "Science" on its 125th anniversary; in 2005 he received the American Cancer Society Special Award; in 2006, he won the World Health Organisation Director General Award; in 2009 he was honoured with the Elsevier/Scopus distinguished researcher award and the Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies was recently awarded the Hamdan Prize for the Best Research/Medical Facility in the Arab World.

Said Foundation Alumni Achievement Prize 2012

Marwa Bouka is from Syria and received a Said Foundation scholarship to study an MBA at the University of Warwick in 2008. Marwa did the course by distance learning from Syria, whilst holding down a full time job with the World Food Programme (WFP). 

Marwa told us that the new skills she obtained gave her the confidence to meet new objectives and address the gaps resulting from planned changes at work. She was the WFP's first Resources Management Officer and became responsible for all humanitarian and development projects implemented by the Syria Country office. Using the knowledge gained in her MBA she was able to contribute to the design and implementation of a pilot electronic voucher system in Syria that has resulted in cost sharing and savings for WFP programmes. She is now considered an expert in this modality of humanitarian assistance.

Over the past year, Marwa has been given additional responsibilities in response to events in North Africa and is responsible for co-ordinating emergency assistance to more than 1.5million people in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Marwa is now based in Ben Ghazi where she is launching a project to assist around 120,000 of Libya's most vulnerable people.

In 2011, the Foundation also awarded two alumni achievement prizes to the following former students:

Ahmed Al Kasir Ahmad is from Syria and was supported by the Foundation in 2007/08 for an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management at the University of Oxford. On his return to Syria, Ahmad found work as project manager and advisor on the Modernisation Programme for the Syrian Water Sector. This important initiative is modernising the water supply and sanitation sector with an emphasis on organisational development, performance efficiency and sound financial management. Ahmad was put in charge of establishing a system of performance indicators – a cornerstone in the effort to promote a regulatory role for the Ministry of Housing and Construction and this system in now in the implementation stage.
Amer Shomali Amer is from Palestine and was supported by the Foundation in 2007/08 for an MA in Animation at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth. He studied architecture at the undergraduate level because there was nowhere in Palestine he could study animation. Since returning to Palestine, he has helped to establish and develop the Multi-Media Diploma Programme at Birzeit University. This programme allows graduate students to further their knowledge in animation, film and art and is the only one of its kind in Palestine. In addition his first animated documentary film, The Wanted 18, is in production and he has been working to preserve Palestinian poster art through collaboration in an online archive.
Ahmed Al Kasir, Wafic Said and Amer Shomali at the Said Foundation Annual Dinner in May 2011.