Helping create positive, enduring change in the Middle East
Across the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan
700 million
people are experiencing a massive, rapid transformation.
By 2040
1 in 6 youth
globally will live here.
Their success matters not only for the region’s prosperity, but for the world’s as well.
Youth in this region have big dreams and are as talented as youth everywhere in the world—they just have fewer opportunities.
Our purpose is to help create positive, enduring change in the world. We are committed to doing all we can to help youth in this region get opportunities they deserve to pursue their dreams.
Download the full report
Empower:
Developing future leaders
What lies ahead for the region will be directly shaped by the next generation of leaders. We are working to help connect talented individuals with opportunities to learn from the region’s top executives and build their own networks of mentors and career advisers.
Qimam has been a one-of-a-kind experience that I will truly cherish and carry with me.
Qimam Fellowship Program: Empowering the next generation of Saudi students
Supported by a coalition of 37 leading national and international companies, Qimam is a fellowship program that aims to identify, develop, and empower the most promising university students in Saudi Arabia.
Maqdira: McKinsey internship program in Saudi Arabia
Over the course of seven months, 18 university fellows developed their problem-solving skills, gained firsthand exposure to McKinsey internal operations and client engagements, and enhanced their business-management skills. This internship program was established to create a pipeline of talent that is ready to step into the workforce.
Qiyada Emerging Leaders in Abu Dhabi
In its inaugural year, this 10-month program took young Emiratis with three to 12 years of experience on an immersive journey of self-discovery to help them become better leaders.
McKinsey Accelerated Leadership Program (MALP) in Qatar
This year-long program offers training for Qatari women and men aged 24 to 36 who are playing a role in shaping the future of Qatari society, economy, and culture.
GCC Board Directors Institute (BDI)
As a founding content partner, our work with GCC BDI is focused on helping improve corporate governance of boards in the GCC to ensure stronger financial performance, increase accountability and enable overall long-term sustainability and success of their organizations.
Forward
Forward is a virtual learning program developed specifically to equip young professionals with less than 5 years of experience across different industries and functions with the critical skills they need to thrive in the future of work.
If you hear something great about me in the future, I want you to know it is because of this program.
Upskill:
Creating a capable workforce
We aim to expand employment opportunities by equipping students and professionals with the tools needed to thrive in the workplace. Through the following three focus areas, we’re helping the next generation of leaders build skills.
It was an amazing experience that I know will help lead to more career opportunities!
Mentoring
AGFE
Through the Abdullah Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE), our colleagues in the Middle East participated in mentorship programs and delivered workshops on financial literacy, problem solving, and effective communication to hundreds of Arab scholars aged 18–25.
AccelerateHer
Young female professionals received coaching in finance through the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) Accelerate Her program.
Virtual training
edad
We offer edad as a 2-day program for senior students to get exposure to on-the-job consulting experience. Participants have access to different critical critical-skill-building that prepare them for the workforce, including interview preparation, effective communications, and problem solving essentials. 1,000+ edad participants to date
INJAZ Al-Arab
We teamed up with INJAZ Al-Arab, the regional operating center of JA Worldwide, to reach 5 million youth in next five years by digitizing their operations and models. Our colleagues in Egypt, Kuwait, and UAE are facilitating workshops for students on entrepreneurship, investing, personal finance, and career guidance.
CIRCLE Women
We worked with CIRCLE to set up a best-in-class tech school for women in Pakistan by partnering with leading tech schools globally for curriculum creation and global donor-organization fundraising.
Capability-building
We offered training sessions to several NGO employees on how to better serve different communities in Saudi Arabia: Bunyan supports underprivileged women, Arees Foundation runs an orphanage, and Alnahda runs an information hub that supports female empowerment.
Startup support
This year, our Fuel Ignition clubs, aided by more than 80 colleagues in the UAE, helped several regional start-ups navigate the unique challenges they each face.
In Saudi Arabia, we are supporting a burgeoning start-up ecosystem, working alongside local start-ups to help assess business plans, problem solve key challenges, and think about scaling their impact.
- Robotics
- Digital payments
- Health and beauty
- Tele-medicine
- Gig economy
Support:
Aiding the ongoing refugee crisis
As one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time continues to ripple through the region, we’re mobilizing to help rebuild the refugee community.
Fostering distance learning
Through the Alsama Project, which seeks to empower women and children in refugee camps in Lebanon, we established partnerships with English-language schools to create distance-learning opportunities for refugee children.
Improving livelihoods
Our continued work with the International Rescue Committee focuses on helping them improve the livelihoods of more than 2 million refugees in the Middle East.
Enhancing refugee schools
In close collaboration with NGOs like Alsama and the Sawiri school, in both Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, we have developed a program to improve the classroom experience and education outcomes in refugee camps—from curriculum development to teacher training and broader school governance.
Building coding and robotics skills
We worked with the nonprofit CodeBrave to help underprivileged youth in Lebanon build coding and robotics skills.
“There is still much to do, but with the aid we got from McKinsey, we were placed on the right track!”
Looking forward
We are excited to build on the important lessons and experiences of this unforgettable year. Young people are hungry for opportunities, and a more virtual world creates greater opportunities for scale. We look forward to continuing to serve our clients and our communities. Together, we can ensure a brighter future for youth in the region. Their success matters to the region and the world.
Download the full report