Single mother of three rewrites her story with ILO training

Salwa’s story begins at 15 years old. She left school in her third preparatory year, got married, and became a mother soon after. For years, her world revolved around her daughters, until a difficult divorce compelled her to return with her children to her father’s home. “I became both mother and father. I had no income, no privacy, just a room that barely fit us all,” Salwa recalls. All she desired was her own four walls to give her and her daughters privacy. “It’s difficult to have keys to your house, but you can’t even call it your own,” she adds. Amid this upheaval, Salwa remained resilient for her daughters, continuing to take them to and from school and extracurricular activities.

One day, as she was dropping her daughter off at an after-school lesson, she came across the ILO’s Job Search Club (JSC) training, implemented with support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Intrigued, with a glimmer of hope, she signed up for the intensive 10-day course.

From training to employment

“The first thing they talked about was self-confidence,” she says. “It was like stepping out of a dark room, I started to believe in myself again. I wanted the training to go on longer. It created a new version of me, a new story for a new Salwa with her daughters.”

The ILO’s JSC is a global training program, which was contextualized for the Egyptian market and has been implemented since 2014. Reaching more than 8,500 beneficiaries over the years, it equipped Salwa with practical job search skills: how to write a CV, navigate interviews, and work with computers.

I wanted the training to go on longer. It created a new version of me, a new story for a new Salwa with her daughters.

Salwa, Job Search Club beneficiary

Her unwavering determination paid off. Salwa was soon offered a full-time position as a social supervisor at the very centre where she attended the JSC training. The centre’s director recognised her confidence and communication skills. “She told me: your qualifications don’t matter as much as your attitude and how you treat people,” Salwa recounts.

A message of hope 

At a panel discussion during the Job Search Club’s Achievements Celebration event with the Ministry in April of 2025, Salwa gave audiences a message of hope: “Wealth is not about money. Wealth is found within, in how proud you are of yourself and what you do,” she says. “Your education or background never defines your worth. What matters is being content with who you are.”

Thriving because of the training and the ILO’s support, Salwa was able to grow professionally during her day job and continue to raise her three daughters. Her eldest is 14, and Salwa is committed to ensuring that all her girls see education and independence as their given right.

Salwa’s story is a powerful testament to the role of women’s empowerment and inclusive training programmes for employment. Her transformation, from a young woman isolated by early marriage and divorce to a confident, employed single mother, is a shining example of how access to opportunity and tailored support can change lives.

Job Search Club methodology of implementation

The JSC training method approaches job hunting as a job within itself. Over 10 days, it provides Egyptian youth, migrants and refugees with key core skills to find decent employment using peer-to-peer non-traditional activities to build confidence, form connections and find purpose.

In Egypt, the JSC training has been implemented across several ILO projects over the years. Currently, these include the PROSPECTS partnership programme funded by the Government of the Netherlands, the Youth for Future project funded by UNICEF, and the Decent Jobs for Egypt’s Young People initiative in Damietta, funded by Methanex Egypt. This diversity reflects the JSC’s adaptability in supporting youth employability and inclusion across different contexts and the ILO’s commitment to decent work for all youth.