The El Gora activity is building a culture of youth civic participation and volunteerism. It also helps young people develop their leadership and communications skills and builds trust among the youth and their local community leaders – especially the Government of Egypt officials and tribal decision-makers who have historically excluded young people from positions of authority. Through North Sinai’s first youth volunteer center, young people are able to join together to carry out volunteer opportunities to aid their communities. The activity promotes youth leadership skills and social accountability tools, enabling young people to actively design solutions for community reconstruction, social welfare, and crisis management, thereby giving youth the opportunity to earn community respect and become a key interlocutor between local officials and their communities.

Implementing Partner: El Gora Community Development Association; Life of Project:  January 2008 – November 2020; Total Estimated Cost: $1.9 million; Governorates: North Sinai

GOALS

• Strengthen young people’s civic awareness and participation in tribal decision-making in North Sinai’s traditional communities
• Increase participation of youth as local volunteers, community representatives, and first responders in conflict-ridden North Sinai
• Improve knowledge and skills for youth to allow them to serve as leaders who capably represent their communities among tribal and local administrations
• Build leadership capacity of youth in preparation for local council elections

RESULTS

• Established the first Sinai Volunteer Center serving marginalized tribal communities in North Sinai
• Facilitated the participation of 2,250 youth in civic awareness workshops and their subsequent engagement in local community initiatives. These youth volunteers are now designing and implementing programs in North Sinai’s five districts to support victims of the ongoing conflict
• Trained 900 community volunteers on planning, designing, and implementing community programs, which resulted in the creation of five new NGOs in the conflict-prone districts of Beir El Abd, El Hassanah, and El Shiekh Zowayed
• Developed a governorate-wide database of 640 volunteers who are first responders, which is maintained and updated by five partner NGOs.  The database was instrumental in the mobilization of the blood bank and distribution of emergency supplies to victims in the wake of the 2017 El Rawda mosque attack
• Supported development of leadership skills for youth volunteers and their linkage with tribal leaders, resulting in young people being appointed for the first time to tribal and clan leadership positions in North Sinai, and in one instance, being elected to Egypt’s Parliament in 2015 to represent North Sinai