Bab Amal
Bab Amal
A flagship project with Sawiris Foundation, the program is committed to applying evidence-based models that respond to the diverse and urgent needs of Egypt’s most vulnerable communities. Bab Amal seeks to support ultra-poor households through the Graduation Approach—a holistic framework combining social protection, livelihood development, financial inclusion, and social empowerment.
The Graduation model was first introduced by BRAC in 2002 to tackle the complex challenges of extreme poverty. By combining asset transfers such as livestock, skills training, financial access, health support, and regular home visits, the model equips families for long-term resilience. Rigorous evaluations worldwide—including in Egypt—have consistently shown lasting improvements in income, consumption, and overall well-being, with some benefits enduring for more than a decade.
The program supports vulnerable families through four main pillars. Social Protection provides temporary financial aid, links households to essential services, and promotes health and hygiene. Financial Inclusion builds financial literacy, encourages savings, and connects families with lending institutions. Livelihood Promotion helps households generate income through asset distribution, training, and regular progress monitoring. Social Empowerment strengthens communities by offering life skills and literacy support, psychological counseling, and establishing village solidarity committees for ongoing guidance and collaboration.
Since 2018, the Sawiris Foundation and its partners have adopted this approach in Egypt, in partnership with BRAC for technical support and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) for impact measurement. A total of 6,458 extremely poor households in Assiut, Sohag, and Minya have already been targeted. Currently, around 2,800 new households are being targeted in the 2025 phase in both Assiut and Sohag. This is being implemented in cooperation with the associations “Giving without boarders” in Assiut, “The Egyptian Association for Human Development” in Sohag, and “Shorouq Misr” in Minya.
Bab Amal program scale up aims to serve approximately 100,000 households across Egypt by 2028, reflecting the ambition to make a transformative contribution to poverty reduction at the national level. In its effort to advance this mission, the Essam and May Allam Foundation is partnering with SFSD to support 470 families that live under the poverty line in Minya for a phase lasting 30 months.
Location: Al Minya, Egypt
Expected Outcomes
- Growth in Livestock Assets and Ownership: 470 targeted families experienced increases in livestock holdings.
- Improved Household Income: Families reported growth in monthly income.
- Enhanced Food Security: With higher income and productive assets, 470 households faced fewer challenges in meeting their nutritional needs.
- Strengthened Family Capacities: Through targeted training and ongoing support, 470 families were equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage their livestock and other assets.
Evaluation
A team of researchers at J-PAL MENA conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the Bab Amal program, targeting 3,465 ultra-poor households in Asyut and Sohag. The study tested three program variants: a full-cost model with flexible recipient choice, a full-cost model requiring female asset recipients, and a lower-cost version with reduced intensity.
Previous evaluation showed strong results: after 20 and 40 months, households experienced higher food security, income, consumption, and female employment, with livestock wealth tripling and quadrupling depending on intervention intensity. Income rose by 21% in the full-cost arm and 15.5% in the half-cost arm, while female employment nearly doubled. Results remained resilient despite COVID-19 and inflation. Key lessons highlight the cost-effectiveness of reduced-intensity models, the persistence of gains, and the appropriateness of gender-neutral targeting. Together, these findings confirm the Graduation approach’s scalability and economic viability, providing a solid foundation for Bab Amal’s scale-up in Egypt.