Sponsorship Impact Evaluation: Study Final Report (Egypt, 2025)

This impact evaluation examines Save the Children Egypt’s Sponsorship Livelihoods Project in Mallawi, Minya, implemented under a child‑sensitive graduation model that combines seed funding, business and financial training, VSLAs, and ongoing coaching to strengthen household economic resilience. Using a mixed‑methods design—monthly quantitative monitoring and extensive qualitative inquiry—the study assesses outcomes for 250 caregiver beneficiaries across diverse income‑generating activities including livestock, poultry, retail, sewing, home‑based food production, and services.

Findings show that 66% of participants achieved increases in household income, with micro‑retail and sewing demonstrating the strongest performance, rapid profitability, and high operational success. VSLAs played a critical role in building financial discipline, enabling savings of over 458,000 EGP and providing accessible credit for business expansion and shock response. Social impacts included improved child well‑being, with income gains supporting school fees, basic needs, and the return of 46 out‑of‑school children, alongside strengthened parenting practices and women’s decision-making power. However, the evaluation identifies major challenges: delayed and poor‑quality asset procurement—particularly in livestock and poultry—misaligned sequencing of training and asset delivery, insufficient technical support to coaches, infrastructure failures in capital‑heavy collective ventures, and high mortality rates in animal projects.

The report concludes with recommendations to adopt supervised cash/voucher procurement, ensure training precedes asset delivery, strengthen technical backstopping, enhance financial literacy, and improve governance for complex collective initiatives. Overall, the project generated meaningful economic and social gains despite systemic implementation constraints.