The AOU as a Pan-Arab Project

HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz, President of the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND), promoted the concept of the Arab Open University (AOU) as a personal initiative. The aim of this initiative is to provide higher education for the widest possible spectrum of learners across the Arab world. Though roots of the concept go back to 1976, HRH Prince Talal made a more formal proposal in 1996. Following a feasibility study and a subsequent standing collaboration with the United Kingdom Open University (UKOU), the AOU was established under the umbrella of the AGFUND. It has, since then, been adopted, in principle, as a private Arab institution of higher education of special status. The AOU launched its teaching programs in October 2002 and Branches are now established in Kuwait (where the AOU Headquarters is based), Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and Oman.

Today, HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz continues to serve as the AOU President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Initially nine Arab countries offered to approve the establishment of AOU Branches, five of which offered certain facilities and privileges for hosting the AOU Headquarters. On December 9, 2000, HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz announced the choice of Kuwait as the Headquarters for the AOU. Subsequently, on January 9, 2001, HRH Prince Talal signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Kuwait for said purpose, thereby, paving the way for a formal Headquarters' agreement.