PepsiCo Egypt marks Int’l Women’s Day With launching “She Works wonders”

09 / 03 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

PepsiCo Egypt launched in partnership with Injaz Egypt a woman empowerment program under the rubric of “She Works Wonders” within the framework of marking mark the International Women’s Day.

The program – under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education – aims to increase female representation in the male-dominated fields, starting with sales and supply chain.

The four-stage program seeks to empower and equip 600 young women in four governorates; Cairo, Alexanderia, Tanta and Assiut, to work in untapped fields through trainings, mentorships, bootcamps, and field visits, ending with an internship program through which potential hires will be employed at PepsiCo.

Actress Nelly Karim is the program’s ambassador.

The event was launched in a celebration attended by Dr. Nevin Al-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Ayman Ashour, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, and Nicole Shampaine, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Cairo in the presence of Eugene Willemsen, CEO of PepsiCo Africa, Middle East, and South Asia, Mohamed Shelbaya, CEO of PepsiCo Egypt, and Dina Al Mufti, founder of Injaz Egypt.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said PepsiCo is a key partner with Egyptian state institutions, wishing the program would come up with more stories of success of Egyptian women.

He wished more programs and applicable ideas would be forged to serve this end.

For his part, Eugene Willemsen, CEO of PepsiCo Africa, Middle East, and South Asia said said PepsiCo seeks to promote women’s role and has managed to empower about 16.4 million women and qualified them to join the labor market between 2016 and 2019. This falls within the framework of the company’s positive strategy which aims at achieving sustainability in all its investments perspectives.

He highlighted the company’s belief that women is one of the most important factors for realizing sustainable development.

He added that the company is planning to support 5 million women and their families, noting that the female representation in the company’s administrative posts will reach 50 percent by 2025.

He stressed that achieving gender equality and empowering women economically would promote stability and social cohesion.

Willemsen feted the efforts exerted by Egypt over the past period to empower women and achieve gender equality, adding that Egypt was among leading countries in laying down a national strategy for empowering women at the political, economic and social levels.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Shelbaya, CEO of PepsiCo Egypt, said the program marks a watershed stage in PepsiCo’s social programs aiming at empowering women.

He said the program aims to achieve positive chance to have a community supporting working women in order to play their role in realizing sustainable development.

He lauded the strenuous efforts exerted by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, especially in implementing the national strategy for women empowerment.

He also commended the ministry for supporting initiatives aiming to spreading technological, scientific and innovative awareness among women to promote their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals under Egypt Vision 2030.

For her part, Dina Al Mufti, founder of Injaz Egypt, said it is a pride to cooperate with Pepsico in launching this program which aims at empowering and training women in various domains.