Geographic Area: Governorate of Sinai, Matrouh, Cairo, Fayoum, Sohag, Aswan

Area of Development: Support to the economic and productive system

Sector: Handicraft

Executive body: DGCS and NGO: COSPE

Institutional counterpart: Ministry of Social Affairs

Other funding parties: NGO: COSPE and local partner NSCE

Beneficiaries: Handicraft and small producers

Period of implementation: 2003 - 2005

Amount and nature of the Funds: Channel: bilateral –1,541,249.15 € (promoted project)

Type of intervention: Technical assistance, training and financial support, capacity building

Objective: Facilitating the access of the associations of handicraft producers to stable and efficient services for the production and marketing of the products according to the principles of fair and equitable trade.  

Description of the project: The project is introduced as an extension of the precedent intervention concluded in 2001. It involves new groups of handworkers and benefits from the experience acquired during the first phase, especially that concerning the application of an efficient strategy to further enable the currently excluded handicraft producers to access the market. In particular, the project involves groups of producers in the aim of enhancing their social and economic integration.

Moreover, the project aims at introducing and consolidating the principles and modalities of fair and equitable trade in the management and marketing systems of the products, connecting the network of local producers to the international network and favouring the increase of market outlets in relation with market demands.