Towards inclusive access to employment opportunities

The Empowering Inclusion in Employment (EIIE) program aims to break down digital, institutional and societal barriers hindering persons with disabilities from equally accessing employment opportunities and corresponding information in Egypt. The program supports the creation and wide-scale adaptation of inclusive and accessible digital content, applications and devices for persons with disabilities.

You can now apply to take part in the EIIE incubator to receive direct support to create accessible digital solutions that improve the access of persons with disabilities to employment, training and education opportunities and information.

15 accessible digital solutions for inclusive employment

A nationwide call for solutions was launched for entrepreneurs, startups, organizations, and businesses. Your solution should contribute to breaking down digital barriers for persons with disabilities, with the purpose of supporting the creation and adaptation of digital content in Egypt to ensure equal access to employment and skill development opportunities. Are you working on an accessible digital solution that can:

support existing employment and learning digital platforms in improving their accessibility
support the creation of inclusive platforms, tools and content for employment and learning?

This is the program for you to take your solution further and implement it on a wider scale.

For more information about the program’s eligibility criteria, targeted accessibility challenges, and recommended areas for innovation, please refer to the “Helpful documents” section below.

The call for applications is now closed.

Key information

Duration

01.04.2024 to 28.02.2025
Supporting

15 entrepreneurs and organizations
Direct financial support

500 Euros/month/team member
Locations

Egypt

Objectives

Breaking down barriers to access that make employment information and opportunities hard to access through creation and wide-scale adaptation of inclusive and accessible digital content, applications and devices for persons with disabilities.

Targeted SDGs

What type of support does the EIIE Incubator provide?

Financial support

of 500 Euros over 7 months per individual to assist with business expenses and skill development needs.

Training sessions

on business and personal growth, such as product design, development methodologies, user experience design, accessibility considerations, business development and market analysis

Access to work spaces

and amenities for your team for the duration of the incubator in Zamalek, Cairo

Dedicated mentoring

with local and international experts based on your team needs to provide strategic insights, guidance and feedback

Go-to-market support

with an opportunity to test and upscale your solution in the market following the training and mentoring period

Access to budget for services

of 3000 EUR for each team, allocated for the technical development of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Global, cause-driven community

of people invested in creating an inclusive society for persons with disabilities, including academia, policy makers, entrepreneurs, experts, community initiatives and nonprofits, and industry experts

Demo Day

Pitch your idea in a dedicated Demo Day to an audience of potential partners, customers and investors

Knowledge and resources

including studies, data and focus groups to support you with building and improving your solution

Applications now closed.

If you have questions or want to follow up on the status of your applications, please reach out to us at shc@enpact.org. Please note that this is the only official channel to receive a timely response within 24 hours.

Helpful documents

We have put together a package of documents that outlines the program’s focus areas and eligibility criteria.

Challenges and criteria

This document outlines the program’s target group, the eligibility criteria, the targeted challenges and potential areas of innovation for your idea, and the evaluation criteria for your application.

Download (1.91 MB PDF)

Incubator Timeline

28 April 2024

Call for applications launch.

02 June 2024

Applications close. Selection process starts.

July 2024

Idea competition.

July 2024 to February 2025

Training and monthly financial support.

March and April 2025

Testing and adapting solutions.

April 2025

Graduation and closing event.

Learn more about the project

In addition to the incubator, the EIIE program also includes the development of resources to support making digital platforms more accessible for persons with disabilities. Find out how you can get involved as an expert or partner on the program’s overview page.

Learn more

Meet the EIIE Incubator Teams!

Through the idea competition, 5 teams of young entrepreneurs started their journey with the EIIE Incubator in August 2024. Get to know them:

Awsefly by Muhammed Shetta, Walaa Mohamed ElTaweel, and Ahmed Hossam

Awsefly aims to integrate individuals with visual and auditory disability into society through a website and mobile application that provides learning resources and announces job opportunities.

Qayedny by Mohamed Soliman, Sondos Saeid, and Sara Ashraf

Qayedny is a hub for youth, providing a marketplace that matchmakes and connects all learning, training, freelancing, and entrepreneurial ecosystem stakeholders in one place. Using time as a currency, Qayedny’s Time Points Token enables youth to seamlessly buy, sell, and exchange services as well as skills.

ScribeMe by Bishoy Michel, Mark Morad Sedky, and Jowairya Ahmed Soliman

ScribeMe is an application that converts inaccessible documents (especially scanned documents and shapes in PowerPoint) into text that is readable by screen readers..

SDS Egypt by Hussein Oraby, Suhaila Saad, and Mona Saif

SDS Egypt (Smart Disability Society) is an inclusive learning and freelancing platform tailored for persons with visual disabilities in Egypt, providing them with accessible training for current and future demanded jobs, remote work opportunities, and affordable assistive technology to empower their independence and mobility.

SensEar by Omar Abdelsalam, Muhammad Samy, and Ahmed Saeed

SensEar from Makeen provides Augmented Reality-powered glasses for seamless 2-way communication for persons with auditory disabilities, helping them read and write through real-time translation of speech and text into sign language and vice versa.

Program partners

The Empowering Inclusion in Employment program is implemented by the nonprofit organisation enpact within the cooperation framework between the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Egypt, which implements on behalf of the German Government. The program is implemented as part of the Equal Opportunities and Social Development (EOSD) Project.