VeryNile is a youth-led initiative interlacing environmental, economic and social impacts while involving local communities. It develops eco-friendly solutions to remove inorganic waste from the river Nile, raises awareness on the importance of protecting our environment and empowers communities to become responsible agents for changing their living conditions and generating income through sustainable activities.
VeryNile emerged from the Sustainability Innovation Lab led by the young social enterprise Bassita. Until 2022, VeryNile has economically impacted 220 people on Qursaya island in the south of Cairo by creating job opportunities through collecting, sorting, compacting, and creating products. This includes 40 fishermen who are financially compensated for every kilogram of garbage they collect and 9 women working in the up-cycling workshop.
This project aims to increase this impact by
- building the entrepreneurial capacity of over 50 women and youth and support the initiation of at least 15 green micro businesses
- inspiring innovation and creative thinking in 500 adolescents and students
- providing sustainable revenue streams to over 80 more members of the fishermen community.
On top, VeryNile will expand its activities to promote responsible policies and practices on environmental issues at the system level and consolidate eco-friendly behaviors of individuals, communities, and institutions. The Ministry of Environment has already endorsed the initiative and is championing changes of policies.
This project also focuses on enabling the VeryNile initiative to scale, ensuring its organizational and financial sustainability and strengthen VeryNile to become an independent entity.
