Empower Women in Upper Egypt through Craftmaking

The following is the summary of activities implemented as of September 30, 2025, in collaboration with our partner in Egypt, CEOSS.

1. Final Selection of Participants

During this reporting period, the project team completed the final selection of 42 female craft-makers across two governorates: 20 from Minia and 22 from Beni Suef. Participants were selected based on a standardized set of criteria to ensure inclusion, motivation, and readiness for economic empowerment. Criteria included:

• Demonstrated eagerness to improve their professional and economic opportunities.
• Existing vocational skills and motivation to start or further develop a craft-based enterprise.
• Priority to women aged 18–45 years.
• Residency in Minia or Beni Suef governorates.
• Preference given to women from poor or marginalized socio-economic backgrounds.
• Additional preference for single mothers.
• Must not have previously participated in earlier phases of the YEP program.

2. Training Program Activities

A series of four training days was conducted —two days of training were completed in each governorate. All 42 selected participants successfully attended the sessions.

The curriculum focused on building foundational knowledge and practical skills in four key areas:
Branding, Marketing, Sales, and Financial Management, with a dedicated segment on Business Plan Development.

By the end of the sessions, participants achieved the following learning outcomes:

Branding

• Gained essential knowledge and skills related to brand creation.
• Understood the importance and impact of branding in small business growth.
• Identified the core principles and characteristics of effective branding.
• Learned strategies for developing a strong brand identity.
• Followed a step-by-step approach to building a successful and authentic brand.

Marketing, Sales, and Financial Management

• Received an introduction to core marketing and sales concepts relevant to small craft businesses.
• Learned foundational financial management concepts needed for business planning and sustainability.

Business Plan Development

• Understood the purpose and goals of having a structured business plan.
• Identified key components of a business plan, including:
• Executive summary
• Description of project idea
• Market analysis
• Financial elements and funding sources (including micro-loans)

3. Networking – connection with the “Ayad Masr (Hands of Egypt)” Platform – Beni Suef

An introductory orientation session was conducted for the 22 craft-makers in Beni Suef with the platform representative from Ayad Masr. This governmental initiative by the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity that aims to support local economic development by promoting heritage and handmade products—especially through digital platforms. It also aims to advance digital transformation to expand online sales of traditional crafts. The session aimed to familiarize participants with the platform’s objectives and services designed to support small-scale female artisans.

Platform Services

• Provides an online marketplace to showcase and sell products.
• Organizes exhibitions and in-person events across multiple governorates.
• Offers integrated electronic payment and shipping services to facilitate sales and distribution.

Next Steps

During the next three months, more training sessions will be conducted for both, Minia and Beni Suef participants, with local trainers with expertise in craft-related small business management. We will conduct four days of training (two days in each governorate). We expect 40 female craft-makers to participate. The training content will focus on how to start and improve their businesses, including developing a marketing plan, defining the target market, identifying promotional strategies and sales channels, estimating sales volumes and costs, and calculating expected revenues and operating expenses. The program will conclude with a session on financial and administrative planning.

Additionally, trainees will be connected to American experts via online sessions, and also will have a session with a former participant of this training program, who is now a successful business women, with shops in Egypt and United Arab Emirates and a factory in Assiut.

Links:

• http://handsalongthenile.org
• Trainee testimony

Poverty and inequality continue to hinder the economic and social advancement of many Egyptians, particularly women, youth, and people with disabilities. These groups often face compounded barriers such as unemployment and limited access to essential resources and services, including healthcare and education.

In response to these challenges, Hands Along the Nile Development Services (HANDS), in partnership with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS), launched the Young Entrepreneurs Exchange Program (YEP). Originally funded by the U.S. Department of State and later by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, YEP was designed to empower women artisans and aspiring entrepreneurs by equipping them with the tools and skills needed to build sustainable livelihoods.

The program began with two U.S.-based training sessions in Chicago and Washington, D.C., where 25 Egyptian female artisans and entrepreneurs with disabilities participated in intensive small business training, networking sessions, and site visits to successful American enterprises, NGOs, and public institutions. These initial exchanges created opportunities for cross-cultural learning, relationship-building, and knowledge-sharing between American professionals and Egyptian participants.

Following the U.S. exchanges, the program expanded to reach more entrepreneurs inside Egypt. Additional in-person and online training sessions were organized for both the original participants and 80 additional entrepreneurs who were unable to travel to the U.S. Led by American and Egyptian experts, these sessions covered practical topics such as financial literacy, business planning, marketing and sales strategies, product design, and quality control—key elements for launching or improving small enterprises, particularly in the handicrafts sector.

Seeing the program’s positive impact—where participants significantly improved their livelihoods by gaining valuable knowledge and skills—we continued to raise additional funds from private donors and organizations to sustain and expand the initiative. Over the years, YEP grew into a broader network of young female craft-makers and entrepreneurs, providing ongoing mentorship, training, and access to local and international business networks. Participants also received support in connecting with helpful resources, marketing their products, expanding their businesses, and securing valuable partnerships.

Since 2015, with additional funding from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and other donors, YEP has trained an additional 180 entrepreneurs, many of whom were women from Cairo, Alexandria, and Upper Egypt. In addition to training on small business management, financial literacy, and marketing, several rounds of expert trainers from the U.S. provided participants with skills in product design, quality control for international trade, and online marketing. The program also included a business plan competition, inviting all trainees to submit proposals. A panel of industry leaders, government officials, and civil society experts evaluated the submissions, awarding grants and media recognition to the three best ideas. Furthermore, product fairs and exhibitions were organized to provide participants with direct access to potential buyers and partners.

Beyond tangible business growth, YEP fostered lasting cross-cultural connections and strengthened positive perceptions between Americans and Egyptians. Alumni from the original U.S. exchanges have since become trainers and mentors, helping empower additional women in their communities to launch income-generating projects and craft businesses. The program has created ripple effects of economic development, social empowerment, and intercultural understanding, demonstrating how strategic investment in women entrepreneurs can uplift entire communities and strengthen U.S.-Egyptian relations.

In 2024, recognizing the program’s success and its ability to uplift women in impoverished communities—many of whom have little prospect of finding employment or generating income—the U.S. Embassy in Cairo invited us to design a training program specifically for young female craft-makers in some of Egypt’s most impoverished areas, including Sohag, Luxor, Minia, and Beni Suef. A small grant was issued to support local facilitators in delivering training, as well as mentoring and online sessions led by American experts, culminating in a week-long in-person training in Egypt.

Unfortunately, due to recent cuts in international aid, our grant was suddenly canceled, preventing us from launching the program—even though potential participants had already been notified.

HANDS applied to GlobalGiving to participate in online fundraising for this project through their platform. Fundraising efforts started in May 2025. After receiving the first installments of funds raised, HANDS was able to restart the implementation process in Egypt, which had been on hold until we could ensure sufficient funding to commence the activities. After signing a revised grant and project plan agreement with our Egyptian partner, CEOSS, they announced the project’s availability in the local communities of Upper Egypt, in the governorates of Minia and Beni Suef, and opened the recruitment process. As of the end of July 2025, the recruitment process is near completion, and the project staff in Egypt are also working on planning the subsequent activities in which the participants will engage. In the next several weeks, a total of 40 participants will be selected, and the project implementation will continue by providing training and networking opportunities for project participants.

Further reports of activities will be provided in the future.