Best Buddies International, a Miami-based nonprofit, has spent more than three decades building friendships between people with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). “At Best Buddies, we believe friendship is the foundation of inclusion,” he added. Best Buddies has said it intends to expand programming nationwide over time, eventually introducing leadership development, self-advocacy training and employment initiatives modeled on programs the organization already runs in nearly 50 other countries. The new initiative, Best Buddies Egypt, is run in partnership with LifeMakers Foundation, an Egyptian nonprofit with a long record of youth engagement and community development work across the country’s urban centers and rural provinces. Best Buddies Egypt’s work is modest, with volunteer pairings in schools and communities.