Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, AGFE, and Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, SFSD, on Tuesday announced the signing of an MoU to support education opportunities for youth across Egypt.

The MoU aims to see both foundation platforms collaborate through their respective youth programmes to advance the education and development of young people in Egypt. With current pandemic, distance learning platforms are now more crucial than ever, and key to ensuring and continuing the education of youth, despite global challenges.

Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar, CEO of AGFE, and Noura Selim, Executive Director of the SFSD, signed the MoU during a virtual ceremony to provide youth across Egypt with access to the Al Ghurair Young Thinkers Programme, YTP.

AGFE will offer its Young Thinkers Programme platform to SFSD beneficiaries and train them to support outreach efforts. Members of different Sawiris Foundation programmes will also be trained on the YTP platform.

This agreement represents the first official partnership for AGFE in Egypt with regards to the Al Ghurair Young Thinkers Programme. Through the partnership, the YTP digital platform and online learning tool will be offered as support to youth who are interested in exploring their career options, developing the soft skills required for success, and gaining valuable education to employment guidance.

"Our strategy is to work closely with our partners to leverage a bigger impact in achieving our common goal of assuring young people have high quality educational opportunities for elevated livelihoods. We are pleased to sign with the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development in Egypt as an example of how Arab foundations work together for the greater good. The Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education and the SFSD share a joint purpose, to empower youth in the MENA region so that they will thrive and contribute to the development of the region", said Dr. Ben Jaafar.

The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development will extend the YTP programme to current and graduated beneficiaries from four main SFSD programmes to reach 1,000 Egyptians including the Sawiris Scholarship for Students with Disabilities, Gouna Technical Nursing Institute Scholarship Programme, German Hotel School in Gouna Scholarship Programme, and the Don Bosco Scholarship Programme.

Selim, in turn, expressed her happnies for partnering with Al Ghurair Foundation to benefit Egyptian youths. "This collaboration will allow us to further increase our impact. The Young Thinkers Programme sits at the intersection of education and employment, helping to provide young students with the soft skills that they need to be more competitive for the labour market. The programme was designed to be online, which makes it even more pertinent today. We are certain that this is just the beginning of a successful partnership."