Hossam Abdel-Maksoud, EACF chairman, said meetings this week with Egyptian activists visiting America stressed the need to create jobs for Egyptian youth.
“We are going to focus our short-term goals on helping the young people getting jobs and getting the right skills,” Abdel-Maksoud said.
To make this happen, the EACF is partnering with Education for Employment, a group that provides job training to Arab youth, and the Egyptian-based nongovernmental organization Nahdet El Mahrousa.
As part of job creation efforts, the EACF announced on April 8 its support for the “Buy Made in Egypt Program” to boost Egyptian exports to America.
“The officials in the new government recognize and appreciate EACF’s role within the community and, for that reason, request we bring attention to this campaign,” Abdel-Maksoud said. “We are proud to have been asked to raise this important banner that will undoubtedly help to rebuild Egypt’s economy.”
Beyond the economy, the EACF is partnering with like-minded organizations and individuals to transition Egypt to democracy.
On March 19, the EACF co-sponsored a forum titled “Together for a New Egypt.”
Held in Washington, the forum was the first US-based national event for activists to exchange ideas on how to participate in shaping Egypt’s future following the Jan. 25 revolution.
“We were just really impressed by the way all the Egyptian and Egyptian-American organizations came together to help and to support our goal,” Abdel-Maksoud said. “One thing to take away from that event was the amount of work needed to be done in Egypt.”
The one-day event joined 320 people and 28 organizations interested in Egypt’s future to “better coordinate efforts, identify possible partners and synergies, as well as mobilize necessary financial and human resources for their causes,” said an EACF press release.
One of the EACF’s partnerships helps Egyptians live in safe, affordable housing. In 2010, EACF held a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity Egypt. In the wake of revolution, Abdel-Maksoud and Yousry Makar, director of Habitat for Humanity Egypt, are envisioning how to improve services in Egyptian villages.
Because of the economic climate in post–Hosni Mubarak Egypt, Abdel-Maksoud said, local businesses and individuals that normally support charities are holding back.
“We are going to try to hold some events that collect funds,” Abdel-Maksoud said, adding that EACF recently participated in a fundraiser with the Egyptian American Medical Society. “We are going to get this message out to our committee leaders and maybe they can take it back to their communities, to their churches and their mosques, and see how people can donate or help for these causes.”
Although its members’ roots are in Egypt, the EACF is an American organization and works to improve local communities in the United States. In July 2010, EACF sponsored free eye exams and supplied vaccination information at Jersey City’s annual Egyptian Festival.
Amgad Ragab, an EACF board member involved with the health fair, said the festival served as community outreach.
“The festival was a great opportunity to celebrate our shared Egyptian culture, while also being responsible and forward-thinking about our personal health,” Ragab said. “Because of EACF’s contributions to this fun, family-oriented event, attendees left both happier and healthier.”
— M. Scott Bortot is a staff writer at www.america.gov