Dubai: UAE-based global humanitarian organization dedicated to support people in need worldwide, The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF) has directly benefited 500+ women while indirectly helping more than 2,300 individuals through a women-empowerment project it established in 2019 in rural Upper Egypt.
The Ready-Made Garments (RMG) Factory by TBHF was initially set up in the Qena Governorate in Upper Egypt to improve women’s participation in the labor market. The Factory currently employs 426 employees including 142 full-time workers and 284 in part-time positions.
80 of the staff members work in a vocational training center that provides relevant training and skills for women to enter the workforce.
The self-sufficient facility covers its entire operational costs while also allocating a percentage of profits to develop training programs, implement safety measures, and acquire new machinery to enhance the quality of its products that are currently distributed across several Egyptian governorates.
The Factory aims to market its high-quality products to neighboring countries in the emerging markets of Asia and Africa in the near future. The Factory’s ambition was recently made publish during a recent media visit to the project site organized by the nonprofit and headed by Ms. Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF.
THE FACTORY
The Foundation launched the $605,000 RMG Factory in Upper Egypt on a 500 m sq area as an extension of its ongoing development efforts in the region since 2017, including vocational training programs to equip women with relevant training and skills to be able to enter the workforce.
The Project was executed by the Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID) under United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
LITERACY AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE
The Delegation also paid a visit to the literacy and vocational training centre launched in 2017 in partnership with ENID.
Launched to develop viable and sustainable employment opportunities for women, the Centre forms the cornerstone of TBHF’s humanitarian work in Upper Egypt, where women are trained for employment in the fields of design, sewing and embroidery, which eventually led to the establishment of the garments factory.
80+ women, working on both full and part-time basis, are employed at the Centre.
We are proud of the outstanding efforts of the Ready Made Garments (RMG) Factory in creating a sustainable economic enterprise within three years, and firmly establishing itself as a model for investment development projects. The fact that the factory’s growth and expansion have been facilitated under the leadership of Egyptian women gives us more reasons to be proud of this project.
Ms. Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF, observed on the occasion.
The TBHF Director added that, “Founded on an ambitious idea to utilize the energy and capacities of Egyptian women and the community, the factory has today bolstered its status in the Egyptian market by meeting the local demand through long-term contracts, which is an affirmation of the quality of the products produced in the factory, and its commitment to becoming a vital contributor to the Egyptian economy.”
“We hope that the success of the garment manufacturing business will lay the framework for the development of similar economic projects to expand the scope of our humanitarian efforts across rural areas of Egypt in line with the vision of H.H. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of H.H. the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of TBHF, to empower women, develop their skills, and support them to help advance the local communities,” Ms. Al Hammadi added.
Over the past years, TBHF’s focus to deliver services and implement projects in Africa increased, particularly in Egypt.
TBHF was able to broaden the scope of its services as well as development and humanitarian projects in cooperation with many strategic partners like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID), Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation (MYF), National Cancer Institute, Ahl Masr Foundation, among others.