Nahed Karim Rayan, Mariam Mamdouh Youssef, Baetia Reda Malik and Mariam Heba Moussa are four Egyptian women who live in the Upper Egypt region, which has one of the highest poverty rates in this African country. This precarious situation especially punishes women, who see how the growing inequality between genders reduces their employment and income opportunities and, consequently, reduces their presence and participation in public life.
In this context, Nahed, Mariam, Baetia and Mariam have had the opportunity to participate in a Project aimed at promoting their economic autonomy and providing them with the professional and social skills necessary to facilitate their access to the labor market, including self-employment options and entrepreneurship, as well as their participation in public decision-making spaces. This initiative, which the Social Promotion Foundation develops in the region in collaboration with the local partner AUEED (Association of Upper Egypt for Education and Development) and with financing from the AECID (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development), ends next March 31st
Through access to the training activities developed within the framework of this Project, these four women are being able to improve their personal and economic situation, as well as that of their families. All of them lived in very complicated situations of precariousness, with several children in their care and a family economy greatly damaged by the economic context of crisis and by the insufficient income provided by their spouses. Added to this fact was their low or limited training to be able to access a job or even start their own business.
By accessing a training program in tailoring and sewing, developed within the framework of this Project in different cities in the region, Nahed, Mariam, Baetia and Mariam have acquired new skills to add another source of income to their respective families and, thus, being able to improve their living conditions and the future opportunities for their children.
In the case of Nahed (35 years old and 3 daughters), accessing this training was an opportunity to learn and start sewing for herself, her family and friends, which allowed her to earn additional income. Furthermore, her expertise and determination led her to be hired in a workshop as a tailor and seamstress, so Nahed currently combines these two professional activities, feeling very satisfied with her personal and professional development and dreaming of being able to expand her capabilities and design their own clothes.
For her part, Mariam Mamdouh Youssef (34 years old and 3 daughters) was forced into a difficult personal and family economic situation when, for health reasons, she had to leave her previous job in a Pharmacy. However, thanks to her participation in the Training Program she was able to quickly learn and acquire advanced sewing techniques and recycling training, creating new garments and other textile objects from old clothes and scraps. Her effort to learn and her creative ability make her feel proud of her work and her creations, in addition to starting to receive orders. Looking to the future, Mariam hopes to be able to expand her tailoring project to create more products and, thus, continue contributing to improving the quality of life of her family and the future of her daughters.
The story of Baetia (36 years old and 3 children) and Mariam Heba Moussa (28 years old and 2 children) is also worthy of admiration. They both first met in an AUEED Literacy course, in which they learned to read and write, since they were illiterate. Later, they met again in the tailoring, recycling and uniform production training programs, which the AUEED developed in the context of this project. After these multiple coincidences and, furthermore, being neighbors, they decided to start collaborating. Currently, they work together on orders placed by their neighbors and family. Both share their expenses and benefits, which has allowed them to improve the finances of their homes, especially for Mariam, who is a widow. The two aspire to dedicate themselves full-time to their profession, reach a higher professional level and expand their project in order to offer their children an education and a life full of opportunities that, until then, they had not had.
This Project highlights the commitment of the Social Promotion Foundation to promoting decent work and economic development in Upper Egypt, paying special attention to the most vulnerable sectors of the population. Furthermore, in this region it is also developing an agreement to promote sustainable economic and social alternatives in the tourism sector, focusing on women and young people. This last initiative is also carried out thanks to the financial support of the AECID and with the collaboration of AUEED, Enroot and Knowledge Economy Foundation (KEF) as local partners.