On the sidelines of the 3rd CSR Annual Conference in Egypt

• Participant parties pledge to develop 40 NGOs in focus areas, train 400 university students and fresh graduates on entrepreneurship and leadership skills & provide them with the needed finance to start their own businesses

•  Laila Hosny: We aim to enhance employability through investment, skill development & professional training for women & youth

• Tamer Badrawi: The private sector is a key pillar for development of Egyptian civil society

• Peter Van Rooij: Partners in MoU seek to use their extensive experience to build up a strong civil society & contribute to society development

• Noura Selim: Companies exert great efforts to create new jobs & to support entrepreneurship through CSR policies

Cairo, April 10, 2017 -  As part of a fruitful cooperation among parties concerned with sustainable development, ALEXBANK, Professional Development Foundation (PDF), Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) and International Labor Organization (ILO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch Youth & Women Socioeconomic Empowerment Project targeting women and youth in Upper Egypt.

The project aims at facilitating the opportunity for 1200 women and youth in rural and disadvantaged areas to have access to productive employment, decent work and income opportunities. Throughout the project; 40 NGOs will be developed and engaged in training women and youth; and 400 university students and fresh graduates will be trained on entrepreneurship and leadership skills, in addition direct finance will be provided by ALEXBANK.

The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 3rd CSR Annual Conference in Egypt, held in Cairo today with the attendance of private sector companies, international organizations, donor agencies and development partners.

Laila Hosny, Head of Internal Communication and CSR of ALEXBANK, said: "The MoU aims at enhancing employability through investment, skill development and professional training for women and youth, helping to improve the overall employability environment, building up on the capacities of several  NGOs to be next to their territory to properly engage Small Enterprises in creating new job opportunities relevant to their core business, size and nature".

"ALEXBANK's partnership in this MoU comes in line with the bank's vicinity to the communities it serves and its particular attention to initiatives able to create new job opportunities in Upper Egypt especially when directed to women and youth, as well as when meant to boost the competitiveness and productivity of micro-and small-sized enterprises " she added.

For his part, Tamer Badrawi – PDF vice chairman & secretary general, said that "all these efforts won't benefit the society without the help of the private sector, which is a key pillar for the development of the Egyptian civil society", deeming the private sector as a partner would be a door to the project's great success and its aspired impact".

He noted that such "agreements and projects play an essential role in the growth of the Egyptian economy and significantly contribute to GDP", citing that these agreements aim at helping Egypt overcome difficulties and challenges facing its efforts to create new job opportunities.

In the same vein, Eng. Noura Selim, Executive Director of SFSD, said :"Companies exert great efforts to create new jobs and to support entrepreneurship and boosting supply chains through CSR policies".

"The CSR contribution to the project will have a significant influence in scaling up the youth and women's employability, creating a strong income resource and promote a large segment of the Egyptian society," she added.  

She has made it clear that the four partners share the same vision, which is increasing funding opportunities for these enterprises and their growth of operations in a bid to contribute to supporting and enhancing the Egyptian economy as a whole.        

Peter Van Rooij, ILO Cairo Director, said :"The ILO's participation in this project is part of the organization's program to create decent job opportunities for the Egyptian young people implemented in Minya, Port Said, Red Sea and Luxor governorates since 2011 and for 8 years".

"The partners in this project are in full swing to do their utmost and take advantage of their enormous resources to upgrade the youth, empower women build capacities of Egyptian NGOs to build up a strong civil society and contribute to society development," he added.