AUC, USAID Celebrate Inauguration of Aswan University Center for Career Development

With the support of the United States Agency for international Development (USAID), AUC celebrated the opening of the Aswan University Center for Career Development (UCCD) — the 14th out of 21 USAID-funded centers in 14 public universities across Egypt. 

During his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said, "The UCCD centers are of great importance, not only in Egypt but all over the world, as there is a gap between labor market needs and academic education.”

In addition to Abdel Ghaffar, several notable guests attended the ceremony, including, Director of USAID-Egypt Sherry Carlin, AUC President Francis Ricciardone, AUC Counselor Ashraf Hatem, Governor of Aswan Ashraf Attia, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Universities Mohamed Lotaief and Aswan University President Ahmed Ghallab. The UCCD project aims to provide career guidance, employability skills and technical training to bridge the gap between the outputs of university education and the needs of the labor market. The UCCD project also helps students find job opportunities or create their own jobs through entrepreneurial initiatives.

UCCD, through partnership with The International Labor Organization (ILO), will identify gaps in the local markets to help the universities integrate them in their curricula. Abdel Ghaffar added that these studies can be complemented with more specialized professional studies to map the needs of the Egyptian labor market.

“I am proud to join Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and presidents of Egyptian Universities today in celebrating the opening of Aswan UCCD," Ricciardone said. "We are pleased to work in partnership with Egypt's national universities in the UCCD project, which extends from Aswan to Alexandria. This project enhances the employability of university graduates, creates communication channels between the universities and the labor market, and thus contributes to the Egyptian economy. The UCCD project is another milestone in AUC’s 100 years of service to Egypt. I thank the USAID who made this project possible, as a gift from the American people.” 

Ghallab mentioned that this center is a milestone for the "newly born" Aswan University, which he said is “taking great steps toward its rightful place among the best universities not only in Egypt, but also globally.”  

Ghallab added, “Today, we celebrate a new achievement as we launch the UCCD in cooperation with USAID and AUC to serve students and graduates by empowering them and increasing their professionalism and competitiveness in their job search or in starting projects that will have significant impact on the Aswan governorate."

The project aims to empower around 1 million students from public universities by providing career guidance, employability and entrepreneurial skills to increase graduates’ competitiveness through 21 UCCDs in 14 universities in Greater Cairo, Delta and Upper Egypt. UCCDs have been launched in the past months and operating in the universities of Minia, Beni-Sueif, Alexandria, Sadat, Mansoura, Sohag, Zagazig and Menoufia.

To ensure the sustainability of the University Centers for Career Development and AUC's career services, the AUC team will train and certify the staff of Aswan University as career service providers who are capable of providing career guidance services to university students.