The Coca-Cola Foundation in partnership with Injaz Al-Arab announced the second phase of the 'Ripples of Happiness' (ROH) program. The ROH Program is a youth empowerment initiative that trains university students on identifying opportunities in their cities as well as inspiring them to implement projects that will have a positive impact within their communities.

Throughout Ripples of Happiness, students are provided the opportunity to learn a wide range of fundamental corporate social responsibility concepts and important principles for work readiness. With training and mentoring from a team consisting of volunteers from Coca-Cola employees in the Middle East and volunteers from the Injaz Al-Arab network, the students will be engaging in sustainability focused activities aimed at making a positive impact within their communities. In addition, they will be developing and executing a community development project during the program.

"The Coca-Cola Foundation will support the pilot of the projects implemented by each university," said Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communication Director of Coca-Cola Middle East. "With its great success during its first phase, we hope to enrich the minds of the youth for the second round where we have expanded to other universities in the region, further empowering the youth to make a difference in their communities."

Soraya Salti, Regional Director of Injaz Al-Aran and Senior Vice-President of Middle East/North Africa for Junior Achievement Worldwide, added, "We are excited to be entering the second phase of this campaign with Coca-Cola. We believe that the youth of today have endless potential and projects like ROH help showcase their talent whilst additionally opening students minds about the possibilities and benefits entrepreneurship provides to both individuals and communities in the region."

A judging panel combining representatives from the Coca-Cola Foundation, Injaz Al-Arab, and various community leaders will then join forces to choose the top community project in each market keeping in mind the sustainability aspect. The judging process will take place during the seventh week of the program and the winning project will receive a grant to support the implementation of the project on a larger scale.

The Coca-Cola Foundation has supported sustainable activities worldwide in 206 countries where The Coca-Cola Company operates since 1984. The Ripples of Happiness Program falls in line with both The Coca-Cola Foundation and Injaz Al-Arab's longstanding strategy to empower youth and foster social responsibility. The programs taking place simultaneously in Universities across Palestine, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan.

It is worth mentioning that the Jordan Career Education Foundation is the executor of ROH in Jordan. "ROH build and promote Jordanian youth's skills through weekly workshops that aim to serve the community by working to find creative ideas and realistic innovative solutions," said Mayada Abu Jaber, general manager of the foundation.

"These ideas presented by youths come from the reality of their daily lives. And the distinctive thing in this regard is that the youths themselves do the practical application of these ideas and solutions," added Mayada. 

The Ripples of Happiness program will launch at the following universities:

• Bethlehem University and Al Quds Open University in Palestine
• University of Bahrain and Royal University for Women in Bahrain 
• Um Al Qura University and Effat University in Saudi Arabia
• American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University in Lebanon
• Princess Sumaya University for Technology & German Jordanian University in Jordan.