From May to June 2022, the Agility Logistics Parks team partnered with the Kuwait Youth Public Authority (YPA) to provide free facilities management training to young people and recent college graduates to help them prepare for employment in the real estate and facilities management industry. The free training was part of the YPA program “Industry and Work” to help train youth in many professional fields to help them make good decisions about choosing career paths, as well as prepare them for work in different industries. Throughout the program, 36 students received 86 hours of training on facilities management, project management, and soft skills. This project was conducted in coordination with Engineering Systems Group (ESG).

Celebrating the month of Ramadan, Agility and its affiliate, United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), teamed up to run a meal program in coordination with the Al Ber Foundation and its ‘Naemati’ Project. The project reached more than 500 families.

Volunteers from Al Ber, along with employees from Agility and UPAC, helped pack and distribute the “Machla boxes,” containing basic food supplies. Boxes were donated and contained a months’ worth of necessary food items.

In addition, Agility organizes daily Iftar meals for its employees whose jobs require them to be on duty during Iftar at its facilities in Sulabiya, Jahra, and Fahaheel.

In Saudi Arabia, the Agility Logistics Parks team has partnered with Injaz to support five sessions of the “It’s My Business” program. The sessions were delivered to 330 high school students in the Riyadh area, (180 boys and 150 girls). In these sessions the Injaz team and an Agility volunteer presented information about entrepreneurship and basic business skills to help the students prepare for work in the future. Agility also partnered with Injaz to support the “My Company” program. This program teaches participants how to take a business idea from ideation to a viable business plan. The program is competitive; completed business concepts and plans compete locally and nationally. In total, 60 university-aged students participated in the program.

Agility Logistics Park (ALP) Kuwait supported the Al Ber Foundation, a local NGO, and their project ‘Naemati’, donating previously used racking systems to store food and beverage products. All stored items will be donated to those in need, and stored at Al Ber’s storage facility.

Naemati works closely with supermarkets across Kuwait to collect food and beverage products. The Naemati team, along with youth volunteers, collect and store the items, using ALP’s donated racking system or in the freezers and fridges.

The storage facility has the capacity to store tons of various products on any given day, and distribute them to hundreds of families daily. Naemati have a distribution list that is comprised of over 14,000 less fortunate families in Kuwait that will benefit from these donated items.

Photo Credit: International Rescue Committee

Agility, a leader in supply chain services, innovation and investment, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization that provides emergency aid and long-term assistance to populations affected by conflict and other catastrophes, have partnered to provide entrepreneurship and life skills training to youth in Côte d’Ivoire.

As part of the IRC’s Strengthening Opportunities for Youth Project (PRO-Jeunes), which also receives funding from the Mastercard Foundation and the Schneider Electric Foundation,  380 young people will be trained at Agility’s Logistics Park in Abidjan. The training focuses on financial management, entrepreneurship, gender equality awareness, and business plan development support. At the end of the program, students will have access to financial resources to start a business or will receive help finding jobs. The program also offers a vocational training track, focusing on agriculture or information and communications technology.

The Agility-IRC partnership is intended to help young people in Abidjan between the ages of 15 and 30, and at least 60% of participants are expected to be female.

Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Logistics Parks Africa, said: “Agility has continuously supported education through the global initiatives of its sustainability program. It is extremely important to provide youth with the necessary tools and resources to increase their chances to find suitable jobs and secure their futures. In Côte d’Ivoire and elsewhere, we aim to work closely with our partners at IRC to make sure students receive the support they need to grow in their fields.”

Patrice BOA, Coordonateur – Relance et Développement Economique, International Rescue Committee – Côte d’Ivoire, said, “Bringing IRC and Agility together to combine experience, relationships, material, funding and commitment, we’re able to give young people in Côte d’Ivoire access to quality life skills training, which we hope will enhance their future employability. With Agility’s assistance and the space they have provided, we’re able to include more young people into our PRO- Jeunes program in Abidjan.”

Agility established a similar program at the Agility Logistics Park in Tema, Ghana, where the company runs a vocational training program in collaboration with a local non-governmental organization. Since 2018, more than 380 students have graduated from the program, which provides free vocational and technical training and job-placement assistance. Agility is engaged in several long-term partnerships involving education and training programs that aim to improve employment opportunities in the communities where Agility operates. Agility focuses on secondary education and vocational training and aims to ensure that at least 50% of participants are girls and women.

At the Agility Logistics Park in Tema, Ghana, Agility runs a community vocational training program in collaboration with Oiada International. The program, which began in 2018, provides free vocational and technical training to local students, in electrical work, brick-making and basic IT and computer skills. Between 2018 and 2020, 380 students have graduated the program and Agility and Oiada supported graduates to find proper job placements or internship opportunities. Agility aims to find job placement opportunities for 90% of its graduates, and aims to include 50% females in all its training courses.

In 2021, Agility included Soronko, a local nonprofit, into the program to support 30 women with coding classes. The partnership with Oiada and Soronko is expected to reach more than 300 students through vocational training, including online classes, and job placements by the end of the year to support nearly 700 students since the program launch.

Agility Kuwait partnered with United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), a leading commercial real estate and facilities management company and of Agility’s infrastructure companies, and The Basket, a local non-profit, to distribute food packages to more than 830 families in low income communities in Kuwait.

The packages contained staple food items such as rice, cooking oil, flour, salt, sugar, and dates among other items, and is meant to support the families throughout the month of Ramadan.

Agility worked with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) to deliver 1,000 cartons of essential food supplies and basic necessities to families residing in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, one of the areas in Kuwait with the largest number of virus cases. Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and has been on lockdown since early April. The area’s most-vulnerable families received the supplies, which are intended to last about a month.