The initiative aims to offer a source of income for young beneficiaries seeking to make a profit by providing them a bicycle, training and Coca-Cola products to kick-start their micro-businesses…reports Asian Lite News
The Coca-Cola Foundation has partnered with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Military Production and Misr El Kheir Foundation, to launch the first phase of “Your Bicycle, Your Revenue” initiative, which aims at creating job opportunities for youth across the country. This partnership will result in the provision of 1,350 bicycles to 1,350 young beneficiaries, in addition to soft skills and sales trainings to assist them with kick starting their own businesses.
The launch event took place at the Cairo International Stadium and was attended by representatives from the aforementioned parties as well as 500 beneficiaries from the first phase.
“Your Bicycle, Your Revenue” is the result of a collaboration that reflects the avidity of Egyptian actors and international institutions to join forces in order to support Egypt’s 2030 national strategy that focuses on public health, sustainable development, reducing unemployment rates and improving the economic, social and environmental conditions of underprivileged families.
The initiative aims to offer a source of income for young beneficiaries seeking to make a profit by providing them a bicycle, training and Coca-Cola products to kick-start their micro-businesses.
That in addition to preserving the environment, reducing vehicle emissions that pollute the air and encouraging the public to exercise and restore activity on a daily basis.
This initiative is also aligned with Coca-Cola Africa’s new sustainability platform “JAMII” where women and youth economic empowerment is one of the key focus areas. Through JAMII, Coca-Cola Africa seeks to promote and generate entrepreneurship opportunities through the provision of improved access to skills training, networks, finance and markets.
Hala Abdel Wadood, Director of Public Affairs, Communication and Sustainability North Africa Coca-Cola Atlantic: “For the 80 years of our operations in Egypt, we have shown effort in developing the community by supporting work that directly contributes to the development of the Egyptian community. In 2011, Coca-Cola in Egypt inaugurated its 100 villages project which aims to develop villages most in need by providing clean water access to homes, renovating schools, refurbishing medical centers, providing the necessary medical equipment and supporting microbusinesses for women. As a result, the company was able to connect almost half a million people with clean water in rural Egypt and develop 70 villages up until now. Today, we continue with our mission to directly impact our host communities through the efforts of JAMII”
Amal Mobadda, Fundraising Sector Director at Misr El Kheir Foundation, praised the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Ashraf Sobhi’s, role in the field of youth service in all its categories, and his support of various development initiatives.
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“I suggest we extend this initiative to encompass girls and those with special needs in the next stages of “Your Bike, Your Revenue”, as well as following up on the results of the initiative and how bikes have changed the lives of young people and provided them with job opportunities that will provide them, in turn, with a decent income and a decent life, as well as rewarding those who achieve great profits from their businesses,” said Mobadda.
“The initiative is one of the most important projects implemented by Misr El Kheir Foundation for developing the Egyptian individual, which is the slogan that the foundation has raised since its inception. I’m proud to say that Misr El Khier Foundation is one of the largest civil society institutions in Egypt and the Arab world working to serve families in need – inside Egypt – in the fields of health, education, social solidarity, aspects of life, scientific research and integrated development,” continued Mobadda.
She added, “The initiative is a model for the cooperation between the valuable tri-sector collaboration, which includes the government, the private sector, civil society, as well as the media. And in coordination with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Misr El Kheir Foundation is currently training the beneficiaries on managing and marketing their businesses, we will also be following up and evaluating the projects after six months of their implementation date. Both entities will also work collaboratively on writing reports for the executed works and measuring the impact of each project.”
