Mama Maggie of Egypt Honored during Women's Int'l Day

By Jude Nazeer

CAIRO, Mar.8 (SEE) — On Thursday, the first lady of the USA, Melania Trump, awarded prizes to women from 10 countries for their courage to celebrate International Women's Day.

The first lady accompanied Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in the presentation of the International Prize for Women of Courage, where women from Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Ireland, Jordan, Montenegro, Burma, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania were honored.

“Mama Maggie of Egypt is being honored for her commitment to serve lives of the poor in her community, realizing value of those seeking vocational training in order to contribute to society and providing economic salvation for impoverished children in her country.” Tweeted the Secretary of State.

Maggie Gobran, or Mama Maggie, is the founder and CEO of the non-profit charity Stephen's Children in Cairo, Egypt. Her organization works in downtrodden regions of that country, providing food, clothes, mentoring, and education, with a specific emphasis on empowering young women. It is worth mentioning that Maggie Gobran was also professor of computer science at the American University in Cairo and gave up her profession for charity work. In 2012, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Prize for Women of Courage was created by the US Department of State in 2007. Since 2007 and until this very day, it has been awarded to 120 women from more than 65 countries. This year, among the honorees are human rights activists, police officers, and investigative journalists.

During her speech, Melania Trump reiterated that "courage" is one of the characteristics that we "need most in society".

The first lady indicated that this quality requires "sacrifices" and that in the end it was "putting others first". "Courage is what pides those who only talk about change from those who actually act to change," said Mrs. Trump.

For his part, the Secretary of State recalled the protest of the Iranian women for having to wear the hijab, a veil that covers the head, in public all the time and the Ukrainian activist, who died in 2018 after being attacked with acid.

"The situation of these Iranian women is just one example of the danger that many women face and the courage that they most often show in facing it. We are here today to honor women who have had courage all over the world, who are standing up to extraordinary adversities," said the Secretary of State.

Pompeo described the first lady as "a woman of incredible power and courage," who has raised her voice against human trafficking and the sexual abuse of women girls around the world.