Development Programs

In April 2021, Skills Bank collaborated with the ILO for the second time. This time, the mission was to design and implement training programs for the “Capacity Building Programme for Leads of the Women with Disabilities." This project was divided into two goals; the first being to create a comprehensive and briefing brochure for women with disabilities (WWD) that include:

• List of advisory services available in Egypt to orient WWD seeking jobs.
• Map for the training services and opportunities available in Egypt for WWD to improve their employability.

The second mission was to create and deliver training programs on gender equality at work, discrimination, disability and employment, entrepreneurship, and ILO women's economic empowerment.

The Challenge

That project was full of challenges, but let us walk you through the major ones.

• Our first challenge was to collect an enormous amount of data for the brochure in such a short period. To tackle that challenge, we used different methods to gather as much information as possible from governmental entities, NGOs, international organizations, and private sectors. We conducted intensive research on all available social media channels and contacted HR Managers and company directors who hired WWD, experts in women with disabilities’ issues, and currently employed women with disabilities. After that wide scale of data gathering, we successfully created a brochure that provides comprehensive insights about companies that provide jobs for WWD, needed qualifications for the job market, the best work environment for them, challenges they usually face, and how they expect governments and NGOs to support them.

• The second challenge was one of a kind for us. When we first started preparing for WWD, we found out that the special needs of our participants are not unified. Some were visually impaired, some had down syndrome, some had hearing impairment issues, and some had other health impairments. The challenge was to design and deliver an experiential training experience that is interactive and engaging for participants with different special needs. It was not easy. However, thanks to the Skills Bank team, we delivered the required topics in the most convenient way to every WWD by customizing the material, delivery, and facilities according to every special need we had. That was impressive for the ILO decision-makers, and it was enough to push for them to ask us for a contract extension for one more round, while the initial contract covered only one.

About ILO

The International Labor Organization is an UN-specialized agency that seeks to promote social justice and the international recognition of human and labor rights. Since 1919, the ILO has brought together governments, employers, and workers to set labor standards, promote rights at work, develop policies, encourage decent employment opportunities, and devise programs promoting decent work for all women and men. 

Digital Skills Program 

In February 2021, Skills Bank collaborated with the ILO to design and implement training programs ON “Digital Transformation Business” within the framework of the “Support The Operationalization of The SME Unit in The Federation of Egyptian Industries” project. The European Union-funded this project to create a more enabling environment for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt – including those owned by women and youth – in the digital era.

The “Digital Transformation” program aimed to elaborate the process of using digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. 

The Skills Bank LD team delivered the topic in the form of workshops on digital design and promotion, social media writing and management, database building, and online communications. After each workshop, there was a coaching session to get participants' feedback and focus on strong points that will improve their work later on and a comprehensive design digital skill tool kit.

The Challenge

The program was exclusively designed for the 20 FEI members responsible for 20 active chambers, each representing a formal industrial sector operating in Egypt. The chambers work closely with their members and provide technical assistance to enhance the growth of their affiliated enterprises. The challenge was not only to deliver a practical and applicable training program for the mentioned digital transformation topics but also to train the 20 members on how to perfectly function as trainers to accurately deliver what they have learned to the rest of the members. There was no other option but to design an outstanding and sufficient TOT program to do the needed job, and we did.

The Skills Bank LD team created the required TOT program where participants learned how to transfer knowledge to others effectively. They also learned how to apply accurate training need assessments to evaluate the other members' actual needs and select the way and how to transform knowledge accordingly.

About CHF

CHF - Cooperative Housing Foundation and currently known as CHF International - was founded back in 1952. Its goal is to empower more than 20 million people to improve their lives and livelihoods each year.

Within the framework of their contributions to making a positive developmental impact in Egypt, the CHF Management and Consulting Services S.A.E came along to support local currency loans to SMEs and MFIs that lend to micro-borrowers in different sectors. The CHF Management and Consulting Services are Egypt’s Loan Guarantee Facility, funded by OPIC. It exists for a better future for small and medium enterprises, microfinance institutions, non-banking financial institutions, and other approved borrowers.

Skills Bank Contribution

In August 2019, Skills Bank collaborated with the CHF Management and Consulting Services to provide an impactful training program for Egyptian female entrepreneurs on “Financial Literacy and Banking Knowledge''. 450 females who own or manage MSMEs from different governments around Egypt were selected based on CHF’s criteria. The Skills Bank LD team designed the program to help participants gain the needed finance knowledge to successfully run their business and generate profit without having work experience or academic background in finance. 

The Challenge!

We were successfully running an offline round with 25 participants each month, starting from August 2019. Everything was going smoothly and on schedule with satisfying feedback that kept us actively going. We were already done with many rounds until a crisis came along in February 2020.

Coronavirus hits, and we still have seven more rounds left. Offline training became impossible, and that was when we needed to quickly and efficiently reshape the learning experience. Being well-trained in crisis management and able to cope with change promptly, our team successfully transferred the whole training program from offline to virtual without compromising the quality of the training experience or participants’ convenience.

Besides adjusting the timeframe to be more convenient to the nature of the virtual training learning experience, our team went the extra mile to onboard our participants to use the virtual learning platform smoothly. After making sure everyone felt at ease and testing their interactive levels while using the platform, everything was set to efficiently continue the program with the same quality and interactive levels as the offline one. From February 2020 to December 2020, Skills Bank successfully trained 450 Egyptian female entrepreneurs who were ready to get going with their businesses after the rounds smoothly.