Land Rover Joins Forces with the Egyptian Red Crescent and Swiss Red Cross to Improve the Plight of Underprivileged

Land Rover has joined forces with the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) and Swiss Red Cross (SRC), in a pioneering humanitarian project to improve the health and general wellbeing of less fortunate Egyptians in the Zeinhum district of Cairo.

"This is a landmark project that aligns with the ERC’s strategic objective to be the first in class in disaster management with its broader meaning that focuses on building community resilience. The community-based approach adopted in this project enables community members to identify their own problems and participate in finding solutions that suit their local context. The contribution of this project in alleviating sufferings of people living in such hard conditions, building their capacities and opening new opportunities to improve their living conditions will crystalize the successful cooperation between the ERC and SRC with the support of JLR," said Prof. Moamena Kamel, ERC Secretary General. 

The project will also recruit 60 new ERC youth volunteers from the Cairo region and 30 ERC community volunteers from within the neighbourhood. After receiving hygiene education and relevant training on dealing with inhabitants, the volunteers will be tasked with an awareness campaign within the slums by visiting homes and positively changing health and hygiene behaviours. Committees will be founded by the ERC to continue the campaign in the long term. 

Hygiene behaviour training via home visits, community seminars and school co-operation will reach 10,400 people along with the expansion of an ERC clinic that will help stem the spread of diseases and address the urgent medical needs of the families in the area. In addition, 675 women and young people will have access to vocational training such as sewing classes, computer skills and electronic courses, refining skills to help open up employment opportunities.

The two year project, supported with financial backing from Land Rover, will target 35,000 people in the most underprivileged communities of Hoash Bahara, Kal’et Al-Kabsh and Tal Al-Akareb in the Zeinhum area of central Cairo. The project aims to increase access to healthcare, provide vocational training, and raise public awareness of slum inhabitants. The project was compiled by ERC and SRC, who, for several years, have had a strong working relationship and fruitful cooperation in the area of capacity building and relief aid.

Speaking about the initiative, Bruce Robertson, Managing Director at Jaguar Land Rover MENA said: “We are absolutely committed to supporting the regions that we operate in, and helping vulnerable communities through a variety of means will remain a priority for our brand. We are proud to be a company that provides assistance for qualified humanitarian aid organisations such as the Egyptian Red Crescent.”