LocationsUNDP and AGF Convene Regional Leaders in Cairo to Advance Innovative Financing for Youth Resilience and Inclusion in Egypt
June 1, 2026
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Arab States and the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation (AGF) convened the third event of their regional Thought Leadership Series (TLS) in Cairo on 18 May 2026 under the theme “Unlocking Innovative Financing for Resilience: Youth, Skills, and Inclusion in Egypt.”
Bringing together colleagues from government, philanthropy, development institutions, the private sector, academia, investors, accelerators, and social enterprises, the event explored how innovative financing, and catalytic philanthropy can better support youth empowerment, economic resilience, entrepreneurship, and inclusive development in Egypt and across the Arab region.
Hosted at Shabab Balad Academy in Cairo, the workshop formed part of the broader AGF-UNDP partnership to advance resilience-based development and strengthen the role of strategic philanthropy in addressing the region’s evolving socio-economic challenges, particularly for youth and displacement-affected communities.
Opening remarks highlighted the urgent need to move beyond short-term, project-based funding models toward more sustainable and catalytic approaches that build long-term resilience. Speakers emphasized that youth unemployment, skills gaps, economic pressures, climate stress, and rapid technological change are deeply interconnected challenges requiring integrated responses across education, financing, entrepreneurship, and employment ecosystems.
Danah Dajani, Senior Vice President for External and Institutional Engagements at AGF, underlined the importance of shifting philanthropy from simply funding activities toward enabling systems change. Mostafa Ezz El Arab, Associate Minister of Youth and Sports in Egypt, stressed the importance of building durable partnerships between government, civil society, development actors, and the private sector to create programmes that continue beyond single funding cycles. Ghimar Deeb, UNDP Egypt Deputy Resident Representative, highlighted that investing in youth means investing in Egypt’s future, emphasizing that financing discussions must ultimately translate into real pathways for decent livelihoods, innovation, and participation for young people across the country.
The first session, “State of the Market – Impact Investing in the Arab Region and Egypt,” explored the barriers limiting the growth of impact investing and the opportunities for catalytic investments that support employment, entrepreneurship, and skills development for women and youth. Discussions highlighted a persistent mismatch between the needs of social enterprises and the structure of available capital. Entrepreneurs often require patient, flexible, and long-term financing combined with mentorship and market-building support, while investors seek shorter return timelines and clearer exit pathways.
Speakers shared practical experiences from across the entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem. Yara Yassin, co-founder of Up-Fuse, reflected on the challenges many social enterprises face in sustaining operations beyond initial grant funding and emphasized the need for stronger investment readiness and financial literacy support for entrepreneurs. Yehia Houry, CEO of Flat6Labs, described the “missing middle” facing many impact-oriented enterprises that fall between grant funding and commercial investment, while highlighting the importance of catalytic grants, first-loss mechanisms, and accelerators as bridges between entrepreneurs and investors. Ibrahim Mansour of Catalyst Partners Middle East discussed the structural constraints limiting impact investing in Egypt, including currency risk, short investor timelines, and the lack of platforms bringing together development and investment actors. Across the session, speakers emphasized that financing alone is insufficient without stronger ecosystem coordination, business support services, and practical capacity building.
The second session, “Moving from Funding to Financing – The Role of Catalytic Philanthropy in Impact Investing,” focused on how philanthropic actors can play a catalytic role in unlocking investment and scaling inclusive development outcomes. Speakers stressed that philanthropic capital is uniquely positioned to absorb early-stage risk, fund experimentation and evidence generation, and support the development of stronger systems and investment pipelines.
Suha Abdul Rahim of Al Fanar Venture Philanthropy described catalytic philanthropy as patient capital focused on outcomes rather than short-term outputs, emphasizing the need for long-term support that combines financing with governance, capacity-building, and investment readiness. Ennis Rimawi of Catalyst MENA Climate Funds shared examples of blended finance structures in climate infrastructure, demonstrating how relatively small first-loss tranches can leverage significantly larger pools of private capital while supporting employment, resilience, and climate objectives. Dr. Ahmed Elsayed of J-PAL MENA highlighted the importance of funding rigorous evidence generation to determine which interventions are most effective and scalable, emphasizing that philanthropy can help governments and investors make better-informed decisions by supporting data, research, and policy learning. Discussions throughout the session reinforced that catalytic philanthropy is not only about mobilizing resources, but also about shaping systems, governance structures, partnerships, and long-term development outcomes.
The event concluded with an interactive “Impact Clinic” focused on practical regional examples of innovative finance and resilience programming from Egypt and across the region. Discussions centered on how evidence-based programming, blended finance, revolving financing mechanisms, and adaptive models can support economic resilience in fragile and complex settings.
Mays Abou Hegab of Sawiris Foundation discussed the organization’s shift toward evidence-based philanthropy and impact-oriented programming, including the adaptation of poverty graduation models in Egypt through iterative testing and evaluation. Josh Hooper-Kay from Community Jameel shared examples of philanthropic capital supporting evidence generation, climate-focused financing, and risk-sharing models for microfinance in fragile settings, including Syria. Shadi Abdel Hadi of Anera Ventures presented innovative revolving financing approaches supporting MSMEs in Palestine, highlighting the importance of combining catalytic finance with hands-on business coaching and financial literacy support. The discussions underscored that resilience financing in fragile contexts must be adaptive, locally grounded, and paired with practical non-financial support mechanisms.
Across all sessions, several common themes emerged. Participants emphasized the importance of moving “from funding to financing” by developing financing mechanisms that are more patient, flexible, and aligned with long-term development outcomes. Discussions repeatedly highlighted that philanthropic organizations can play a uniquely catalytic role by taking early risks, supporting innovation, generating evidence, and crowding in larger public and private investment flows. Participants also stressed the need for stronger partnerships between governments, philanthropy, investors, academia, development actors, and local communities to create sustainable pathways for youth inclusion, entrepreneurship, and resilience.
The Cairo workshop built on the momentum of the broader AGF-UNDP Thought Leadership Series, which aims to strengthen regional dialogue and action around strategic philanthropy, resilience-based development, and innovative financing in the Arab States region. Through continued regional exchanges, knowledge generation, and partnership-building, the series seeks to help advance more inclusive, locally driven, and sustainable development solutions for youth and communities across the region.