Communities

Community Development

Gara Oasis Project

Remotely nestled in the Western Desert, about 300 km away from the nearest population cluster in Siwa Oasis, lays the village oasis of Gara Om El-Saghir. It is one of the smallest villages where one of the few remaining isolated ethnic groups live in Egypt today. They have their own unique language and traditions.

The inaccessibility of this village has kept its population isolated, thus creating one of the most deprived and vulnerable groups of people currently existing in Egypt, and possibly North Africa. 
The only economic activities in the village are simple agriculture and handicrafts, which are sold to tourists.

In cooperation with the Environmental Quality International (EQI), Shell Egypt undertook a project in the small Gara Oasis, located on the borders of Shell’s West Sitra concession area. Launched under the auspices of the Governor of Matruh, the Project focuses on the advancement and implementation of a sustainable development programme improving environmental, social and economic conditions in Gara.

This has been achieved through the construction of a guesthouse (Madyafa) at Gara using local traditional architectural style, namely Kerchief.

The local community has carried out the building of this centre which serves as a means of reviving traditional architecture, albeit provided with state-of-the-art, environment friendly wastewater and passive cooling and heating technologies.  The guesthouse also serves as an outlet for the marketing of local handicrafts to tourists.

Shell Foundation Development Programme at Beni Suef Governorate

The non-governmental organization, ‘Shell Foundation’, has granted US$ 61,000 to the Integrated Community Development Programme in the village of Dyabia in the upper Egyptian Governorate of Beni Suef, 90 km south of Cairo. The objective of the Integrated Community Development Programme is to improve the standard of living in Dyabia, the 100 poorest households in particular.

The community project is executed by a local NGO (COST) and supervised by an international NGO (DUET).

As part of the Programme, initiatives regarding the environment, education, agriculture and basic needs were carried out. The programme initiated the provision of drinking water, electricity and sewage system to the village. It also set up literacy classes, nutrition classes, medical check-ups and a health forum. In addition, income generation training sessions were introduced with the topic of small loans and loan applications.

A cleaning campaign in the village and five of its surrounding villages was also introduced. Overall, the programme has raised public awareness of the development of Dyabia village.

Shell Charity Committee

Shell Charity is a voluntary based committee composed of volunteer staff, as well as expatriate staff wives. It aims at supporting social organisations and orphanages in Egypt. Over the past years, the committee has supported a number of organisations by giving in-kind donations including the provision of necessary goods as well as production means to work, produce and earn living.

In 2007 Shell Charity shifted focus towards supporting community development associations (CDAs) located in impoverished areas. Initially, three CDAs were selected as serving the most underprivileged areas in Cairo.
Ezbet El Mobayad is a very poor area within Cairo with a high rate of unemployment and low school attendance.

In the absence of enough support groups providing active services in the area, Shell committee sought welfare for Ezbet El-Mobayad, covering the school fees of 200 children for five school years and handing over school items and uniforms.

Shell Charity also supports El Bedaya NGO, working in the underprivileged area of Manshiet Nasser, with material and is actively involved in training people and helping with public services. Furthermore, through El Bedaya, Shell helps many children successfully finish their schooling, with the aim of eventually enabling them to read and write.

Capacity Building

Shell Egypt is keen to contribute towards education and capacity building of students and teachers, especially at public schools. This support stems from Shell’s belief that these elements are critical in the development of the Egyptian society. Hence, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Shell has adopted several public schools, renovating their facilities and supporting students’ activities. Adopted schools include Al-Makrizi, Almaza School, Red Crescent, Mustafa Kamel Complex of schools as well as Talaat Harb, Taha Hussein Preparatory Schools and El-Nahda Preparatory School. The scheme has benefited more than 7,500 students to date.

It all starts at School

These schools were entirely revamped, creating a much more positive learning environment for students and teachers to interact and grow.

In addition to the renovation of school buildings, main facilities such as clinics, laboratories and libraries have undergone complete repairs to make the whole educational process a pleasant experience. 

The School Adoption scheme was not only limited to building renovation. An array of follow-up activities were conducted to further engage students and teachers.

Competitions, field trips and health and safety awareness sessions were organized for students while many teachers received computer training.

Academia Involvement

Shell Egypt has traditionally sought to establish close links with academic institutions as suppliers of potential employees, especially those offering scientific and applied disciplines.

Among Shell’s remarkable initiatives in this regard is the protocol of cooperation signed with the Faculty of Science - Cairo University.

The protocol stipulated an upgrade of the faculty’s laboratories to encourage intensive research efforts by offering students access to research material and equipment. Shell has also provided the faculty with video-conferencing facilities to allow for better interaction with regional and international academic institutions.

Shell is committed to offering annual training opportunities to university students as well as organizing tailored seminars.

In this regard, Shell has sponsored two initiatives: ‘Step Towards Progress’ (STP) at Cairo University and the ‘Annual Conference for Engineering Students’ (ACES) at Ain Shams University. These activities were championed by students with the objective of creating awareness for the practical skills needed in the job market.

Workshops organized were geared towards grooming students for the market after they graduate. Expert Shell staff coached students on the subtleties of becoming successful professionals or business owners.

These events covered topics such as marketing, tendering, project management, negotiations, and public speaking skills, which are vital qualifications and skills required by the labour market.

Education

Bridging the Gap between Academic and “Real Life”

Bridging the gap between academic and professional life is not an easy task and nobody knows that better than an international oil company.

When the Student Union in The American University in Cairo (AUC) approached Shell Egypt to give sessions to bridge this gap for petroleum engineering students as part of its Real Life project, the response was enthusiastic.

14 Shell staff dedicated their efforts for this project and conducted four sessions at the AUC for the 77 selected students out of 101 applicants.

Shell Egypt's initiative was in line with its belief that developing human capital is not only a good social investment but also a smart business move.

AUC has been one of the key provider of graduates talent  for Shell. This fact has encouraged the Marketing Recruitment team to implement the Campus Ambassador Program (CAP) in AUC.

Shell - Intilaaqah Egypt Programme

Human Capital Development is one of the most important elements for Shell Egypt in the field of Social Investment (SI).

Shell Egypt conducts capacity building programmes to reinforce Egyptian youth knowledge and skills. Intilaaqah is a Middle Eastern adoption of the worldwide LiveWIRE initiative by Shell. The programme currently operates in more than 20 countries around the world.

The Arab countries benefiting from Intilaaqah include: Oman, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Syria, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Intilaaqah Egypt programme was launched in January 2004 with the aim of raising Egyptian youth awareness towards self-employment and giving them a glance overview of the advantages of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) becoming small project owners.

Tailored Training programmes are conducted, followed by an Annual Award Ceremony to crown the efforts done throughout the year by the young entrepreneurs.

These events help in marketing the programme idea and at the same time act as an incentive to further develop the graduates’ businesses.

The programme recently included training sessions for the disabled (Deaf & Mute) youth in several Governorates. Hence, two new award categories were added for the disabled in the Intilaaqah Annual Awards: Best Business Idea, and the Encouragement Award.

In addition, a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) award category was added to promote safety among SME’s and raise their production capacity.

Education can open the door to opportunities and help people build a better future.

We operate several projects across the world to give more people the chance of a good education to help them build a better future.

Read more about our global initiatives in education