As prepared for delivery. 

Your Excellency Dr. Rania Al-Mashat (Minister of International Cooperation)

Your Excellency Dr. Nivine Kabbaj (Minister of Social Solidarity)

Your Excellency General Ashraf EL Dawoudy (Governor of Qena)

Dr. Ahmed Kamaly (Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development)

Ms. Margret Sancho (USAID Deputy Mission Director)

Professor. Heba Handoussa (Director, Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID)

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

• It is a great pleasure to be here with you to celebrate the achievements of Egypt’s Network for Integrated Development (ENID) and to announce the start of our new joint five -year project in partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation.
• Before going into more details, I would first like to express my special thanks to Dr. Rania Al Mashat and Dr. Nivine Kabbaj for joining us at this event.
• I would also like to express UNDP’s appreciation for the valuable strategic partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Social Solidarity in bringing about positive change, innovation and sustainable transformation in Egypt’s most vulnerable communities.
• It is thanks to this partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation  that we first began ENID’s comprehensive  area-based integrated development initiative to address the key challenges faced by women and youth in  The rural communities of Upper Egypt
• This initiative has had a specific focus on poverty reduction and employment generation.
• To date, ENID has successfully trained 21,000 and created 4,000 job opportunities, of which 75% were taken up by women in manufacturing, agriculture and other services in Egypt’s six poorest governorate of Qena and also in some areas in Luxor and Sohag.
• ENID has also managed to reach international markets and is currently displaying its products in the British Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris.
• ENID has also participated in two China International Import Expos to enable ENID to reach other markets such as Europe, USA and Asia. 
• In line with the Egypt 2030 vision and the Sustainable Development Goals and with the national project fr the development of Egyptian villages - “Hayat Kareema”, ENID is committed to continuing to help poor families gain access to a decent income, helping youth and women become more competitive in the labour market, and investing in human capital as the main factor for driving economic growth.

• ENID’s approach has been tested and evaluated Its achievements have proven both sustainable and scalable. This is on the basis of this alignment with Haya Kareema and building on the lessons learned that we undertake a new project entitled “Egyptien aNetwork for Integrated Development-Expanded interventions (2022–26) and support for Hayah Karima”.
• This project is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation and will be signing the agreement at this event today.  
• This new project will build on and expand the scope of previous efforts through deeper integration with ongoing national initiatives such as Hayah Karima (‘Decent Life’), knowledge-sharing, new digital solutions such as e-learning and e-marketing, and focusing on the promotion of the private sector and entrepreneurship in productive and service activities.
•  As part of this new project, we will also be supporting the development of value chains and productive clusters to further boost employment and productivity in the South of Egypt.
• The new project aims to contribute to three main pillars under the “Hayah Karima” initiative including: “Human Development”, “Social Integration”, and “Economic Empowerment”. ENID project contributes to the initiative by introducing an integrated development approach that has been tested and validated in the context of Upper Egypt during the past years. ENID will work with 199 villages of Hayah Karima of which 52 villages of Hayah Karima in Qena, Luxor and Sohag ENID is already working with.
• I very much hope to see more of our development partners and actors from the private sector joining us in these efforts to help ensure a decent life for Egypt’s most vulnerable people.
• I would like to thank all our esteemed partners for the excellent cooperation and close partnerships.
• Special mention should be made of the generous support and funding provided by the following actors: the Government of Japan, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Sweden, UK Aid (DFID), the Sawiris Foundation, the Big Heart Foundation, Italian Cooperation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Global Water Challenge, and Oxfam.
• Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Heba Handoussa and her team, who have been the driving engine behind the success of ENID.
• Thank you for your attention!