Our Expertise
Health Management
One of our institutional priorities areprojects pertaining to health rights andhealth improvement. As such, we work withnational and international organizations tosustain long-term partnerships targetingdifferent health aspects such as COVID-19,Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights(SRHR), child marriage, under 5 mortality,maternal mortality, and infection units indifferent hospitals around Egypt.
We target different population segments and cater to the needs of those groups in multiple ways, through direct and indirect interventions. We do so through awareness campaigns to communities, education programs through Edutainment, provision of hygiene toolkits and personal protective equipment (PPE),enhance nursing skills in factory clinics, and other interventions. This work was implemented in collaboration with clients like FHI360, UNFPA, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Levi's, and others.
Environmental Management and Climate Change Adaptation
For over three decades, CDS has been at the forefront of climate adaptation andenvironmental sustainability, implementing evidence-based, community-drivensolutions to adapt to the impacts of climate change and develop resilience. Throughresearch, capacity building, policy advocacy, and stakeholder engagement, we havesupported communities in adapting to climate risks, particularly in vulnerable regionsacross Egypt.
Our work has been backed by leading donors, including the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Near East Foundation (NEF) and the German Federal Foreign Ministry, ensuring that our interventions are rooted in scientific research, participatory approaches, and sustainable development. Under Y-LEAD Program, CDS in partnership with CRISP implemented a number of environmental youth-led initiatives.
CDS has led several key climate adaptation initiatives. The New Land, New Life projectin Aswan focused on assessing climate change impacts on settlers, particularly healthrisks from waterborne and vector-borne diseases. It built local sustainable capacity forirrigation and cultivation while providing mobile healthcare services.
Another major initiative, Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in the Nile Delta, in partnership with CoRI and IGSR, addressed coastal vulnerabilities by engaging communities in land-use planning, training stakeholders, and enhancing climate resilience policies. Additionally, CDS established CoPEH-MENA in 2006 to promote regional collaboration on eco health, integrating public health and environmental sustainability through knowledge-sharing and innovative adaptation strategies.
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
Gender has been an integral component of every assignment and research study CDS has undertaken over the past 30 years. The “gender and development approach” has been used by CDS to involve both women and men into the process of building their “associated roles” in an equitable development process.
CDS has successfully built its long-term organizational capacity to mainstream gender throughout the organization, a program or project, in addition to providing shorter-term input into a separate component, such as conducting Gender Needs Assessments. CDS also provides training on the Gender and Development concept as well as gender mainstreaming for NGOs.
Advocacy and Policy
Emanating from our mission “to support people and organizations realize their full potential and foster self-determined, self sustaining change” advocacy is one of our key approaches and tools to support individuals understand their rights, option sand make them informed decisions to reach sustainable development. Our approach to advocacy is “soft advocacy” that aims to influence opinions and policies through non-confrontational and collaborative approaches. The purpose is to create awareness, build sustainable relationships, and encourage voluntary change without direct pressure.
To achieve this and through participatory approaches and collaborative action, we use a number of soft advocacy tools such as awareness raising; building relationships; shaping public opinion and laying the ground for policy change through research, training and developing policy papers.
Corporate Social Responsibility
CDS helps companies design, implement, and report on impactful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Through expert consulting and cross-sector partnerships, CDS guides businesses in executing sustainable community projects and engaging employees. Beyond individual consulting, CDS actively promotes broader CSR adoption across the business landscape through research, advocacy, and successful collaborations with major global brands.
Governance
CDS advances governance by emphasizing that true "good governance" relies on active citizen participation. To achieve this, CDS focuses heavily on capacity building across government bodies, civil society, and local communities, ensuring that institutions are responsive and equipped to support public input. A core priority of this work is amplifying the voices of historically marginalized groups, including women, the poor, and children. As part of this inclusive approach, CDS actively empowers Egyptian youth across 25 governorates, providing them with the skills, platforms, and institutional networks needed to become engaged and active leaders in their communities.
Youth Empowerment and Participation
Youth participation and engagement are at wo-fold area of our work. We aim to engage youth through our work and project implementations and also to empower them to be agents of change and influence. Through most of our projects, we promote sustainable project implementation through empowering the youth and imparting the necessary skill sand knowledge for them to create and implement their own projects and expertise to different areas of work. Through empowering cadres of youth, we have thus influenced more than 6,000 youth over the years.
