Azm Inclusive Career Day

Cairo, Egypt - 20 July 2019: ALEXBANK initiated and hosted the first edition of the ‘Azm Inclusive Career Day’ for empowering and supporting people with disabilities, promoting diversity and inclusion in work environments, creating potential employment opportunities for this segment. The event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Solidarity; in cooperation with the Egyptian Banking Institute as a strategic partner, as well as Helm Consulting and Shaghalni.com as organizing partners.

The event was inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Nevine El Kabbaj, Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Lamis Negm, CSR Advisor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor, Dr. Heba Hagras, Parliament Member and Board Member of the National Council for Women, and attended by Laila Hosny, ALEXBANK Head of CSR and Sustainable Development Office, Amena Al-Saie, CEO & Co-Founder of Helm Consulting and Omar Khalifa, Founder and CEO of Shaghalni.

Over 1,000 people with disabilities attended ‘Azm Career Day’, connecting with 25 companies offering over 1,000 job opportunities. The event also encompassed several panels on innovative recruitment, best practices in the employment of people with disabilities, and full inclusion in the workplace through removing barriers and enhancing access to employment and education, in addition to hosting a number of training and developmental workshops to guide potential employers and candidates through the best practices in achieving more inclusive workplaces.

“I am proud to witness such progressive cooperation between the private sector and civil society organizations for supporting government efforts to empower people with disabilities and deploy them in a diverse number of business sectors, coming in line with the state vision. Azm Career Day, held by ALEXBANK, is one of the most socially impactful platforms recently launched for raising awareness on the inclusion of people with disabilities and qualifying them for efficient participation in their respective fields. The Ministry of Social Solidarity continuously seeks to implement the principles of equality and non-discrimination and is a key mandate of the Egyptian government to provide all services and facilitation for people with disabilities across Egypt,” stated H.E. Dr. Ghada Wali, Minister of Social Solidarity.

“Social and economic inclusion has been put at the forefront of ALEXBANK and Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s priorities, also aligning to Egypt’s 2030 vision for equality and accessibility. We are currently working on implementing several initiatives to improve the physical accessibility of our premises across Egypt and to give people with disabilities more job opportunities within our organization. We are proud to partner with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the Egyptian Banking Institute, Helm and Shaghalni.com in this event, promoting the achievement in Egypt of a more inclusive work environment” stated Dante Campioni, CEO & Managing Director, ALEXBANK.

“EBI is proud of its partnership with ALEXBANK in such an important event, it has always been our vision to enrich the capabilities of the banking sector and develop the skills of youth with an aim to build a community of highly trained professionals. This year we are extending our services to include all segments of the society to magnify the impact and equip persons with disabilities with the required skills to kick start their employment journeys through a bundle of special training programs”, added Abdel Aziz Nossier, Executive Director, The Egyptian Banking Institute.

“One of Helm’s objectives is to focus on facilitating a disability business network that allows sharing best practices, measuring results, and exploring available assertive tools and technologies. The event brought together all stakeholders in one place to capture the status of people with disabilities employment in Egypt. The event aimed to ensure that job seeker with disability are aware of the opportunities, the challenges faced by companies and how they are working on them, as well as identify the competencies and job market needs of companies to be ready and prepare them,” added Amena Al-Saie, CEO & Co-Founder of Helm Consulting.

“Shaghalni.com is participating in the Azm Career Day out of our strong belief in equal opportunities without any discrimination, and the necessity of including people with disabilities in all work environments, and their rights in fair and adequate employment conditions. This in return will fulfill their expectations of a decent life, as well as achieving inclusive and just development,” said Omar Khalifa, Founder, and CEO of Shaghalni.

As part of the event, ALEXBANK organized a bazaar for the artisans with disabilities on boarded in "Qesetna Fi Herftna” initiative which was launched under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Solidarity supported by ALEXBANK and Sawiris Foundation through the bank’s leading corporate social responsibility project  ‘Ebda3 Men Masr’ initiative, where 10 exhibitors displayed their handcrafts to the attendance.

The event has also been highly supported by several key sponsors, featuring some of Egypt’s most progressive corporate entities including Drosos Foundation and Procter & Gamble as platinum sponsors, Vodafone Foundation and Bavrian Auto Group (BAG) as golden sponsors, as well as ‘Mars Wrigley’, PEPSICO, L’OREAL, Nestlé, MetLife and VictoryLink as silver sponsors.