British Council completes social enterprise training with 8 ministries, 4 institutes, 3 universities
Ahram Online, , Wednesday 7 Aug 2019
The British Council programme focuses on fostering links between government, civil society and business, to help create opportunity and spur development


Within one year of launching the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies Programme in five countries worldwide, the British Council secured partnerships with four ministries and government institutions, and completed social enterprise government training at eight ministries, four national institutes and three universities in Egypt.

Almost 250 key stakeholders from different government agencies attended the programme’s information sessions or engaged in focused training workshops.

Among the key government partners of the programme are the Ministry of Trade and Industry, represented by the Industrial Modernisation Centre, Creative Egypt programme; the Federation of Egyptian Industries; the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies; and the Export Development Authority and Chamber of Handicrafts.

The objective is to establish new — or develop existing — creative hubs and incubators focused on creative and social enterprise, through training and capacity building, with the purpose of creating jobs and fostering social entrepreneurship that contributes to the community and protection of the environment.

The partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry will drive capacity building for Creative Egypt, to help local artisans expand in local markets or access export opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies will develop the National Academy for Disabilities Technologies through the programme, as part of its objective to create job opportunities for people with special needs through creative enterprise. In addition, the partnership will transfer know-how for the development of assistive technologies.

"The programme comes as part of our continuous work to build cultural bridges between Egypt and the UK, and share our experience with creative enterprise, which contributes today over £100 billion to the UK economy,” Elizabeth White, director of the British Council in Egypt, said.

"We want to help policymakers in Egypt foster and encourage creative and social enterprise, which has the power to grow the size and resilience of the local economy,” she added.

The project aims to bring together government, academia, civil society and businesses to work on developing creative ventures, to help mitigate poverty, inequality and joblessness among young people, promote women’s empowerment, and support marginalised groups.

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