Inspired by success in partnering with Bank Misr to fight poverty in the Hawara village, Faoda board member and co-founder Ahmad Bayad encourages local NGOs to advocate for social responsibility programs in the Egyptian private sector.

The Fayoum Agro Organic & Development Association (FAODA) started a new one-year project with a grant of more than 1.0 Million EGP for the development of the Hawara village, where 37% of the population live below poverty line, in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. In an interview with DARPE, Faoda board member and co-founder Mr. Ahmed Bayad stated that one of the reasons behind winning a funding grant from Banque Misr Foundation is that the proposed project lies within the Foundation’s objectives to sustainably develop the Egyptian village. He added that the previous experience of his organization in successfully managing similar large donor-funded community initiatives is another reason behind being selected.

The goal of the project is to increase the livelihood for villagers through the economic empowerment of women and youth as well as increasing health and environmental awareness. Project’s activities include

• Raising the livelihood of 20 families by providing them with pregnant buffaloes well as reducing the living costs for another 20 families by the introduction of biogas facilities
• Provide employability and life skill “Passport to Success Training Course- PTS” for 150 youth which helps youth develop critical life skills such as communication, conflict resolution and problem solving, and self-confidence; skills greatly needed for youth to access and maintain jobs as well as to advance their careers.
• Support other 80 youth in starting up and running micro-small projects to generate income possibilities.
• 100 women will be trained in producing palm tree-based handicrafts while 20 of them will receive training to teach their newly acquired skills to even more women.
• 10 medical caravans will be sent to Hawara over the course of the project
• The conduct of environmental awareness campaigns
• Capacity building for employees of the village-level local administration unit to enable them to persuasively communicate with the higher level local administration tier(s)

FAODA will buy the handicrafts from beneficiary women. Through its marketing team, FAODA will sell such products to external markets, therefore ensuring a steady income generation to beneficiary women regardless of market-based risks. The project also introduces innovative solutions such as the introduction of bio-gas units in an attempt to reduce living costs while preserving the environment

BanqueMisr Foundation continues to be part of many activities targeting the improvement of national social welfare in Egypt

When asked about how FAODA approached and partnered with Banque Misr Foundation, Mr. Ahmed stated that Faoda decided to diversify its client-base and reach-out to several corporate funders. FAODA then communicated with the foundation by email with an elaborate proposal. Happily he recalled that the foundation asked for a meeting to discuss the proposed project. He added that while discussing the proposed project in details, Banque Misr Foundation asked them directly about how such funding can transform the lives of Al Howara villagers. He then stated that “… at that point they I believed that our mandate is in line with Banque’s Misr foundation’s mission”

Mr. Ahmed stated that the private sector, through its corporate social responsibility departments, can play a bigger role in implementing sustainable socio-economic and infrastructure development projects. He added that the Egyptian law allows companies to donate 10%of their taxable profit to charity projects and he therefore urges local NGOs to advocate more for the increased utilization of such law privilege and to increase the funding resources available for development project.

Inspired by Faoda's success in partnering with Banque Misr Foundation? how can NGOs encourage Private Businesses to utilize their Corporate Social Responsibility Funds more to design and implement socio-economic and infrastructure development programs? What do you think? Join the discussion on DARPE portal !