Project of social and economic development of local communities through NGOs - "GRASP Egypt"

The governorate of Luxor has witnessed the various preparatory activities for the project of social and economic development of local communities through NGOs "GRASP Egypt", which is implemented by Action Against Hunger - Egypt and the Arab Network for Environment and Development "RAED”, funded by the European Union. With the guidance of his excellency Dr. Mohamed Badr, Governor of Luxor, and the participation of more than 50 grassroots organizations in the governorate, as well as representatives of the multi sector and the representatives of "Civil society support in social and economic development at the local level" program.

GRASP Egypt seeks to promote synergies between safe social networks and civil society activities in Upper Egypt, as well as enhancing the effectiveness of local development policies adopted by local actors with the participation of civil society.

Evaluation and selection of Grassroots Organizations
More than 50 associations applied for the grant. The evaluation process was conducted in two phases:

• Administrative evaluation, which reviewed the legal and administrative papers of each organization
• Financial and technical evaluation: after the financial assessment of all the organizations, several meetings were held with the organizations to assess the financial and technical capabilities to implement the micro-projects. The projects were evaluated and the grant value allocated to each project based on the efficiency of the organization and the score obtained the financial evaluation.

On July 27, 2017, the institutional platform meeting was held under the chairmanship of a. Ahmed Obaid, Deputy of the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Luxor, representative of several governmental multi sectors (Environment, irrigation, health, agriculture and the national council for women) and heads of the city councils where the projects are implemented, to ensure transparency and credibility in implementation, and to discuss the projects in the presence of the Commission and hold meetings at the level of the city council with the organization, to receive comments of the city council on the proposed projects.

The project is expected to receive the ministerial approval, sign the contract and start implementation of the project in October 2017.

The overall aim of the project is to contribute to improving the social, economic and living conditions of the poorest communities by building partnerships with stakeholders and stakeholders to empower and build the capacity of local civil society, as well as to strengthen the social fabric of the most urban and semi-urban communities In Luxor Governorate.

About 80,000 people living in targeted areas, especially women, people with special needs and marginalized groups, will benefit from the project through the objectives of small social and economic projects that will be implemented through grassroots organizations.    

It is worth mentioning that the Organization for Action Against Hunger - Egypt is an impartial, non-political, independent international humanitarian organization whose mission is to combat hunger and malnutrition, ensure access to water and livelihoods for the most vulnerable communities, and have 35 years of experience in health, water, sanitation, hygiene, and food / agricultural / livelihood assistance.

The Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED) is an international organization and one of the civil society organizations working in the field of environment and sustainable development. It aims to support Egyptian and Arab NGOs to implement activities and programs that preserve the environment and achieve sustainable development in various sectors.

It is our strong belief in the role and importance of development media as an indispensable partner.