Egypt, EU, Italy Launch MEPEP to Address Irregular Migration

The European Union, together with the government of Egypt, the Italian Embassy in Cairo and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation announced the launching of the “Multi-Educational Programme for Employment Promotion in Migration-affected Areas (MEPEP)”.

The program is funded by the “Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa”.

MEPEP programme will address the issue of irregular migration of vulnerable groups to other countries by improving the quality of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system in Sharkeya Governorate in Egypt.

“Our partnership will improve the quality of technical and vocational education and training in Sharkeya; it will help to better respond to the skills needs of the labour market. This partnership is an effective tool to deal with root causes of irregular migration. The European Union’s efforts in the area of education and training are a key component of our partnership with Egypt”, Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union to the Arab Republic of Egypt in his speech at the launching event.

[caption id="attachment_291365" align="alignright" width="221"] Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union to the Arab Republic of Egypt[/caption]

Ambassador Michele Quaroni, Ambassador of Italy to Egypt said during his speech that the EU-MEPEP should be considered as a fundamental step towards the enhancement of the economic and equal opportunities, through the improvement of physical and technical infrastructures and physical and technical equipment of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training systems.

The 10th of Ramadan Vocational Training Centre of the Productivity and Vocational Training Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry is the target of the activities of the Programme.

Dr. Martino Melli, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Egypt pointed out that the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Cairo, will work closely with the Egyptian Government to improve the quality of the (TVET) system, considering that education is a fundamental tool for the improvement of the quality of people lives and leads to wide social benefits to inpiduals and society.

On behalf of H.E Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Maged Barakat affirmed that the Egyptian Government is exerting a huge effort to set a number of policies and reforms to tackle the development of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training TVET system in Egypt, in close coordination between all the involved parties.

The new Programme benefits from an initial three-year 6.000.000 Euro allocation by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa dedicated to the Multi-Educational Programme for Employment Promotion in Migration-affected Areas (MEPEP) implemented in Sharkeya governorate in Egypt with an estimated number of 15.000 beneficiaries.

The Programme is implemented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in close coordination with the Egyptian Government, in particular, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI’s) namely The Productivity and Vocational Training Department (PVTD), with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE), as well as the Sharkeya Governorate, Private sector representatives and other relevant stakeholders.