Minya Multifaceted Development Project

One of the most important projects established by NCW is the Minya Multifacted Development Project. It is a key project which is implemented in five villages of the governorate of Minya based on a cooperation agreement with the Italian Aid Agency. These villages are: Safanya, Ezab al-Thawabet, Tuna al-Jabal, Badraman, and al-Maghaliqa.

The project started its work by creating a network for the sharing of experiences between the Egyptian government, international institutions, line minisries and NCW Branch in Minya.

In view of the important role of NGOs in implementing the project, 13 NGOs were selected to participate in its activities based on their administrative and technical capacities.

The Project's Objectives

 Social Objectives :

The project aims to promote the social status of women through:
1- Organizing literacy Programs
2- Helping women obtain birth certificates, identity and voting cards.

 Health Objectives : (Promoting the health conditions of women)

- NCW signed a memorandum of intent with the United States Agency for International Development USAID and CATALYST (a health awareness organization) according to which a health awareness component was integrated into the project.
- Several workshops entitled " The Call and Convincing Message" were organized in conjunction with Caritas Society on how to implement effective health awareness campaigns for women.

 Economic Objectives :

- A steering committee was established to offer micro-credits for women.
- A refresher training session was held on the electronic loan tracking program.
- An IT specialist was assigned and trained on the Loan Tracker Program.
- Training was offered to female beneficiaries of loaning programs to enhance their skills and enroll them in literacy classes.
- A seminar entitled " Activating the Role of Training in Increasing Women's Opportunities in the Labor Market' was held. A report was issued on the seminar which included recommendations to decision-makers to integrate gender in the state's strategy for training, and to link training to the skills required by the labor market to create job opportunities for women.

Based on the outcomes of the field research and various studies, NCW proposed the following recommendations for the economic empowerment of women on the short and long run:

1- Encourage girls to enroll in technical industrial education and establish new specialties for them which meet the requirements of the labor market.
2- Train female graduates of technical high schools and intermediate technical institutes on new skills on demand by the labor market.
3- Set up projects similar to the Mubarak-Kaul project.
4- Design training programs which target women to provide them with the necessary skills required by the labor market and ensure that women are informed of the available training opportunities.
5- Involve businessmen in designing training programs.
6- Establish an information system on the jobs available and the skills required by the labor market and ensure that this information system is regularly updated.

The political promotion of women :

Another objective of the Minya Multifaceted Project is to promote women politically through :

- Issuing them with voting cards.
- Making women aware of their rights.