Economic EmpowermentAin Shams, CairoSince November 2023
Impact Factory: starting from 3 people in a workshop
From three employees in November 2023 to 85 full-time staff producing around 70,000 pieces a month.
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04 · Economic Empowerment
A skill becomes a job. A job becomes a future.
Market-driven vocational training, business skills, employment pathways and microloans that help people build stable incomes and lasting independence.
Overview
Economic empowerment is Impact’s largest area of work. We combine hands-on vocational training with business and entrepreneurship training, and link graduates to employers and to our own production — the Impact Sewing Factory. More than 1,600 people have been trained to date, with a 25% employment rate among participants.
Why it matters
For refugees, migrants and low-income Egyptian families, a reliable income is the foundation for everything else — housing, schooling, health and dignity. Training that is designed around real labour-market demand turns that need into opportunity.
- Sewing & embroidery
- Leathercraft
- Perfume making
- Electrical technical training
- Mobile & home-appliance repair
- Hospitality & tourism
- Culinary arts & waitering
- Photography & videography
- Digital marketing & graphic design
- Childcare & home care
- Hair & beauty services
- Professional housekeeping
- Fruit & vegetable drying
- Entrepreneurship & business training
- Career advising
- Microloans (Al-Minya)
Impact
1,366
people trained through Train to Hire with WFP
ProgramOct 2025 – Sep 2026, 3 phases
200
Train to Hire graduates now earning an income
ProgramSelf-employed or in paid work, follow-up ongoing
55%
of Phase 2 graduates in work
ProgramTrain to Hire, Feb – Apr 2026 (166 of 300)
300
families served by microloans in Al-Minya
CumulativePortfolio to date
Programs
What we do in practice
01
Train to Hire
Market-driven vocational training with the World Food Programme in Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan. Between October 2025 and September 2026, 1,366 people trained across three phases in tracks from sewing and leathercraft to mobile repair, hospitality and child caregiving — and 200 graduates are now earning an income.
02
Child Caregiving Training Pilot
A pilot with IECD: seven weeks of technical and soft-skills training plus a two-week internship, followed by six months of employment follow-up.
03
Business & Entrepreneurship Training
Every vocational track is complemented by training in entrepreneurship, business management and financial planning.
04
Microloans — Al-Minya
Small, accessible loans that help existing micro and small enterprises grow, combined with regular home visits and family activities.
05
Impact Sewing Factory
A direct pathway from training to stable employment, with 85 full-time staff producing around 70,000 pieces a month.
Feature: Impact Sewing Factory
From three employees to 85 full-time jobs.
In November 2023, Impact opened a sewing factory in Ain Shams, Cairo — so that training doesn’t end in the classroom but leads to stable work. 40% of the team are Sudanese.
~70,000
pieces produced every month
Current2026
85
full-time staff at the Impact Sewing Factory
Current2026
- 01
Skills
700+ women trained in sewing over the past year
- 02
Employment
30% of them employed — a direct path from training to work
- 03
Income
85 full-time jobs at the Impact Sewing Factory
- 04
Opportunity
Own brands and exports that create room to grow
Source: Impact service brochure, 2026.
Stories
Impact in action
Economic EmpowermentCairo · Alexandria · AswanOctober 2025 – September 2026
Train to Hire: training shaped by employers
1,366 people trained in three governorates — and 200 graduates already earning an income.
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Economic EmpowermentAl-Minya GovernorateOngoing
Microloans that open doors in Al-Minya
An EGP 8 million portfolio serving 300 families — and an ambition to reach more than 6,000.
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Economic EmpowermentAswan2025 – today
Aswan: building skills close to home
A new workshop and vocational training for Nubian, Sudanese and Egyptian communities in Upper Egypt.
Read full storyPhotos & video
Inside our programs
Films
Sewing Factory
Inside the Impact Sewing Factory
Voices
Golden: “If you have a dream, don’t hesitate”
Golden came to Egypt from Sudan and started at the sewing factory two weeks after arriving. Her hope: to start her own business and employ others.
Voices
Eman: “Here we feel like one family”
Eman works at the Impact Sewing Factory and now helps train others, Egyptians and Sudanese alike.
Voices
Hana: “My life is a lot better than it used to be”
Hana found the training through a WhatsApp group. Today she works at the Impact Sewing Factory: “It made a lot of difference to me, psychologically and financially.”
Voices
Nabila: “They treated us as a group of sisters”
Nabila didn’t think she could be accepted. Now she works at the factory: “People are very cooperative and loving, and we treat each other like family.”
Voices
Samah: “We were all like a family”
Samah had never sewn before the training. Her dream now: to start her own small business and make it grow.
Voices
Sahar: “My coworkers supported me”
Sahar joined the factory after the training: “Working here made a difference in my financial circumstances.”
Voices
Elisabat: “My dream is to open my own business”
Elisabat felt happy the day she was accepted to work in the factory. The job has already made a difference for her.
Voices
Heba: “We learned sewing from A to Z”
Trainees of the Hayah Karima sewing program share their experience, ending with graduation day.
Economic Empowerment
Sewing training in Alexandria
Trainees in our Alexandria workshop share how they went from fearing the machine to making their own patterns.
Economic Empowerment
Our workshop in Aswan
Reels
Economic Empowerment
Business training for entrepreneurs
Economic Empowerment
Sewing vocational training
Sewing Factory
Inside the Impact Sewing Factory
Community Programs
Impact and IOM: emergency response project
Partners
Our partners
Explore other pillars
There is more we can build together.
Whether you are looking to support a program, develop a strategic partnership, share expertise or explore new opportunities, we would love to hear from you.