URBAN INITIATIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT

UID had a very strong year of growth, recruiting and project success in fiscal year of 2021-2022. The projects in both Egypt and Mauritania have both achieved most of their objectives, and we have seen some success in recruiting, with one new volunteer staff member from Mexico joining the Mauritania team in September 2022 and a pipeline for new recruits being developed. In Egypt, our community center program among Sudanese refugees returned to full capacity, given the limited staff available. One staff member did finish his term of service in July, after a strong three years. In addition to the main courses in ESL, we have given classes in basic computing, trauma and art, creative expression, and the most impactful being a leadership development course, which was developed in greater depth, leading to a stronger leadership class in 2022. In Nouakchott, Mauritania, our efforts in urban agriculture, the partnership with UNICEF (life skills for young women), public health, trauma recovery for victims of domestic violence, women's empowerment, and work with children with special learning needs continued and grew. We did have three staff focused on language and culture learning, with limited project work, all making substantial advances with the hope of starting their distinctive projects later in 2023. As the regional coordinator works out of France, there has been some movement in recruiting French and Swiss volunteer staff to the work. In addition, this has been a season of post-pandemic focus on recruiting, so that our projects can have the necessary staff pipeline to continue the work in these marginalized neighborhoods.