Within the “Addressing the Economic Drivers of Irregular Migration” project implemented by the National Council for Women (NCW) in partnership with the European Union (EU), a roundtable was organized in the presence of Ms. May Mahmoud, Director of the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC) at the National Council for Women, and the project team as well as representatives of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), UN Women, the General Union of Farmers, the Specific Union for Rural Communities Development, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development and the The Alexandria Business Association (ABA).

This meeting aims at exchanging experiences between the parties on setting mechanisms, standards and rules governing the provision of in-kind grants to those target groups of the project and issuing a regulation for that.

Ms. May Mahmoud explained the importance of discussing the economic empowerment of women and youth by helping them start small and medium enterprises and integrate them into the markets.

    Ms. May Mahmoud also indicated that The meeting discussed several important points, which include the types of technical support and in-kind grants provided to target groups in development projects, business incubators and their success factors, production units and their effectiveness and contribution to feeding the requirements of the private sector, revolving loans. She also stressed that this support will go to those who deserve it by setting standards and rules governing this issue.

It is worth noting that the “Addressing the Economic Drivers of Irregular Migration” project aims to promote alternatives to irregular migration through promoting enterprise development and work opportunities for women and youth in Beheira, Gharbia, Luxor and Minya Governorates, in addition to implementing awareness-raising activities to highlight the risks of irregular migration based on the previous efforts.