Contributing to Our Community
These transformative business practices are only matched by EFG Hermes’ unwavering commitment to establishing a community outreach and developmental programmes through the myriad of projects undertaken by the EFG Hermes Foundation. These projects primarily focus on poverty alleviation, disease prevention and youth development and include microfinancing programmes to uplift the economic prospects of disenfranchised communities, awareness and treatment campaigns against some of the worst health crises afflicting the region such as the programme to combat Hepatitis B in Egypt, and training programmes that develop the skills of youths in our communities. For an in depth look at EFG Hermes Foundation and its programmes please click here.
Poverty Alleviation
At EFG Hermes, we know that sustainable development and effective poverty alleviation involve more than a focus on a particular sector such as education or sanitation. The EFG Hermes Foundation’s integrated development approach is both ambitious and unique. It involves the rehabilitation of entire communities starting with infrastructure development and encompassing comprehensive economic and human development initiatives, as well as access to a variety of services. The objective of this dynamic, multi-dimensional approach is to empower the community and reduce poverty and not just make people more comfortable in their poverty by simply providing aid.
We have already successfully applied this approach in the rural Egyptian village of Ezbet Yacoub under the Ro’ya Project, and have begun work for the next project at a village in Qena; other villages in Qena and Sohag have been identified as potential sites for future projects.
Disease Prevention
Throughout Egypt, but particularly in urban and peri-urban slum areas, the spread of preventable diseases continues to exact a grave toll on local communities. The key to disease prevention is public health education. The EFG Hermes Foundation funds a number of disease prevention awareness campaigns, which are effectively limiting the spread of the most devastating preventable diseases in targeted communities.
Youth Development
To help our university students prepare for the job market of tomorrow, EFG Hermes actively supports financial literacy programmes.
Stock Market Tutorial
The stock market is an important facet of today’s financial world, and yet the majority of students (and even more of their parents) know very little about it. To address this, EFG Hermes developed a tutorial that explains investing basics step-by-step. Regional offices will be able to use it to raise awareness of the stock market among university students in an effort to increase overall financial literacy. In Egypt, the programme will eventually be extended to cover high school students as well. EFG Hermes employees will conduct the training sessions on a voluntary basis. The tutorial was launched in the first quarter of 2015.