MEDA hires director; wins award in Egypt

Awarded for identifying children working in dangerous environments.

July 12, 2011 | Web First
Linda Whitmore | Mennonite Economic Development Associates
Waterloo, Ont.
Marion Good

Marion Good of Waterloo, Ont. has been named regional director of Resource Development in Ontario for Mennonite Economic Development Associates and MEDA has won a first-place award for a project in Egypt that it has partnered with--Promoting and Protecting the Interests of Children who Work (PPIC-Work).

Ms. Good, a member of Erb Street Mennonite Church, is a long-time MEDA supporter and participant, having served as a member of the MEDA board of directors for seven years, including four years on the executive committee.

She has served in management positions with the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union, first as branch manager at the Milverton, ON branch, before transferring to the Waterloo branch in 2009.

In addition to her 15 years in the financial services industry, she was a founding member of the organizing committee of the Waterloo Region ASSETS+ Program (WRAP). Marion has also been a member on various boards, including Children and Family Services, Wellesley and District Board of Trade and Wellesley Community Health Centre.

In Egypt, MEDA’s partner, PPIC-Work, in turn partnered with the Center for Development Services to identify children as young as 12 working in dangerous areas and to link them with businesses having less hazardous working environments – construction, furniture manufacturing and textile production – that offer apprenticeships.

As part of the pilot, the children also received literacy and numeracy training and good prospects for employment at the end of the training period, when they turn 18.

These agencies were asked by the Egyptian government to look at some of the worst forms of child labour and help provide opportunities for children to move from dangerous workplaces to safer environments.

“The pilot project proved that good business practices can be matched with responsible and ethical treatment of children who work,” says Jennifer Denomy, MEDA’s director of youth and financial services.

“The award brought a positive note to the closure of our PPIC-Work project in Egypt after nine years, and we are delighted that CDS, our partner in this pilot project, will continue this work.”

The pilot project won first place in the Good Practice Competition on Responsible Business Conduct organized by the Egyptian Corporate Responsibility Center in partnership with GIZ (a German development organization), the World Bank Institute, the UN Global Compact and the MENA-Responsible Business Conduct Forum. (MENA = Middle East/North Africa).

--July 12, 2011

Marion Good

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