Social entrepreneur
Nadim Shwayri passes away

Founder of Al Kafaàt

Foundation and University

Social entrepreneur Nadim Shwayri (82 years), founder of Al Kafaàt Foundation and University, passed away on Wednesday, June 14.

Shwayri started ‘Al-Kafaàt Foundation’ in 1957, with a dual goal to educate children and teenage prostitutes from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. They were taught skills in making handmade leather and other items that were mainly exported to Europe and the United States.

In the mid-1970s, Shwayri opened Al-Kafaàt, a technical and vocational hospitality school in Dekwaneh.

The foundation set up a university in 1995, as part of its strategy to support youth, following the success it had in mainstream education, technical and vocational rehabilitation.

In 1999, Al Kafaàt gained a license as an Institution of Higher Education, and established in 2003 the Al-Kafaàt Campus in Ain Saadeh. The university covers around 18 fields of study in business, education, the arts, advertising, and technology.

Today the Al-Al-Kafaàt Foundation rehabilitates and educates more than 4,500 people in seven different campuses. It employs a team of more than 800 people. The foundation's objectives are based on social entrepreneurship and development.