On October 4, our Agreement to support sustainable and innovative job and business opportunities in the tourism sector of Upper Egypt was presented in Cairo, which has the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and which we execute together with CIDEAL and the local partners Association of Upper Egypt for Education and Development (AUEED). Enroot and Knowledge Economy Foundation (KEF).
The event was attended by the Ambassador of Spain to Egypt, Álvaro Iranzo Gutiérrez, for its inauguration, as well as the presence of the General Coordinator of Spanish Cooperation in the country, Eva Suárez Leonardo, and government representatives from the field of tourism, education and work in Egypt.
Through two panels in which our Project Manager, Macarena Cotelo, and our Head of Mission, Giacomo Crescenzi, and representatives of our partners, have participated, an overview of the current local context and the main contributions of the Program to it has been offered.
With a strong emphasis on the empowerment of young people, especially women, this Convention will benefit more than 3,000 people, mainly women and youth, from Menya, Qena, Aswan and Luxor, ultimately contributing to their holistic development and empowerment.
The role of the Social Promotion Foundation will focus on promoting learning and income generation in the tourism sector of Upper Egypt, focusing on women, youth and students of hospitality technical schools. This will be achieved by installing professional skills, primarily in the culinary arts, with the aim of improving socio-economic opportunities in the region. In addition, work will be done to upgrade the Abu Korkas Hospitality Training Center to provide high-quality training, skills certifications and access to income opportunities to both youth and women, through both a centralized and decentralized approach.
A new learning model will also be established that will allow high school technical school students to gain practical skills and certifications, highlighting the importance of the culinary arts. Likewise, it will seek to increase income generation opportunities for local entrepreneurs through new business initiatives, focused mainly on cuisine and crafts, in the regions of Qena, Luxor and Menya.
On the other hand, the Foundation aims to reposition the Abu Korkas complex, improving its performance as a center of rural tourism in Upper Egypt, specifically in the Menya governorate. This, together with the increase and strengthening of the knowledge, skills and interaction of local actors in tourism and innovation, which CIDEAL will lead, will help consolidate local spaces and actors to promote sustainable rural tourism in the region.