Empowerment

Empowerment refers to any action direct to develop confidence in people’s capacities increasing the political and socio-economic strength of individuals and communities. Empowering people means creating awareness and making needs and resources emerge. Through this process, communities can become the real actors of development advocating for their rights to public instances and becoming the main actors for local development.

Empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes have excluded from decision-making processes on the base of their age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and gender. Such discriminations often bring to marginalisation and poverty, producing a negative effect on future generations’ perspectives.

The hierarchical structure of the Egyptian society, the gender question and the poverty in local areas are a mean threaten for an equal management of services and resources in the country. COSPE Egypt’s main aim in this field is to empower local and marginalized individuals’ and communities’ capacities in order to enhance human and infrastructural resources and break the negative cycle that keep people in poor conditions.

COSPE Egypt’s Community Development and Fare Trade actions sustain the civil growth and empowerment of partners as individuals or communities as first steps for wider sustainable development. Professional trainings, Literacy, English and ICT classes are offered to the beneficiaries to enhance their socio-economic conditions.

In particular, estimated as to be more than the 50% of the Egyptian population, women are a great resource for socio-economic development. However, due to the traditional status in which they are usually living, women are believed to be a lost resource. For this reason, COSPE Egypt has made the Gender Issue a focus of attention taking a particular care for equal opportunities in each action its projects are carrying out. Gender awareness is a main part of the Capacity building activities and, furthermore, positive actions are planned to enhance women entrepreneurship and participation to public life and decision-making process.