Methanex Egypt kicked off the second phase of its partnership with the International Labour Organization, part of the “Decent Jobs for Egypt’s Young People” (DJEP) project by celebrating five winners among 115 women who completed the “Get Ahead for Women in Enterprise” training last month. The women were recognized in the presence of H.E Ayman El Shehaby, Damietta Governor, Eric Oechslin, International Labor Organization Cairo Office Director, Brad Boyd, Senior Vice President for Corporate Resources at Methanex Corporation, and Mohamed Shindy, Managing Director of Methanex Egypt.

“Get Ahead” is one of three key training programs within the DJEP project. Delivered in collaboration with the National Council for Women (NCW), it addresses the practical and strategic needs of low-income women in enterprise by strengthening their basic business and people management skills. In Phase 1 of Methanex and ILO’s partnership (2019-2023), the program successfully trained 951 women resulting in 174 generated jobs.

The second phase of the project comes as part of the five-year partnership signed in October 2023 between Methanex and the ILO to implement the DJEP project through a $2 million donation.

This new partnership, carried out under the umbrella of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and in partnership with Damietta Governorate, aims to create 1,000 jobs and continue to support young women and men in Damietta in their quest for decent work. This second phase of the project will have an increased focus on women in the labor market, the promotion of green jobs and the inclusion of people with disabilities.

This partnership also aligns Methanex’s social investment strategy with Egypt’s Vision 2030, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ modernization program and Corporate social responsibility strategy.

By signing the new five-year partnership, Methanex Egypt builds on the success of its first agreement with the ILO, signed in 2019 for $1.35mn to create decent employment opportunities for youth in Damietta where Methanex Egypt’s methanol production site operates.

The first phase focused on employment creation by promoting entrepreneurship and facilitating job matching processes through three key training programs: “Get Ahead for Women in Enterprise”, “Start and Improve your business” and “Job Search Clubs.” Through those different programs, Methanex was able to support micro, small and medium enterprise owners, would be owners and job seekers resulting in over 2,300 training opportunities and the creation of 725 jobs in Damietta.