Nevine Gamea, CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), and Yasser Dessouky, governor of Assiut , witnessed the signing of five new contracts to employ youth in Assiut, with a total value of EGP 2.35m.
The funding is being provided via the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), as part of its initiatives to reduce irregular migration.
Assiut is one of the most Egypt’s governorates that produces the largest number of migrants.
Medhat Massoud, head of the SMEDA’s central sector for community and human development, signed the agreement with the heads of the boards of directors of the implementing NGOs, in the presence of the head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Felice Longobardi; Saber Soliman, assistant minister of immigration; and Laurent de Boeck, IOM mission chief.
According to Gamea, the contracts activate the agreement with the IOM for implementing Egyptian local development initiatives through the support of Egyptians abroad to finance small project that curb irregular migration and to support the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030.
She added that the projects aim at activating youth, including females, in the villages of Abnoub and Al-Azab in environmental clean-up campaigns, health awareness programmes, and home visits, as well as raise the awareness of people in the areas where the projects will be implemented of the danger of irregular migration.
Gamea stressed the great interest of the SMEDA in the initiatives that support the training and employment of young people, so as to achieve national progress in the face of high youth unemployment and provide a decent life for young people.
