During her visit to Aswan Governorate, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, inspected the Women’s Productive Cooperative Society for Handicrafts and Heritage in Aswan, which is one of the results of cooperation between the MSMEDA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which works to support and empower female craftswomen in Aswan, preserving traditional handicrafts and providing opportunities for women to earn income through their craft skills, accompanied by Major General Ashraf Attia, Governor of Aswan, Mr. Alessandro Fracasetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt and Basel Rahmi, CEO of MSMEDA.
The Minister of International Cooperation and Minister of Social Solidarity also visited the program which works to enhance social cohesion by improving livelihoods and building resilience, with the governor of Aswan. They handed graduation certificates to trainees from the governorate and countries after they have passed the training programs in graphic design and electronic marketing, which they obtained at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport.
The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union Delegation in Cairo,GianPietro Bordignon , Director of the World Food Program Country Office in Egypt, Dr. Ayman Othman, President of Aswan University, Dr. Alaa Abdel Bary, Vice President of the Academy, and Dr. Atallah Hashad, branch manager in Aswan.
In the same context, the Minister inspected the program to strengthen the institutional and human resources capabilities of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, implemented in cooperation with the UNDP and the European Union, and the implementation of training courses for social entrepreneurs in Aswan Governorate on the tools of the “Awareness for Community Development” program curriculum.
In her remarks, Al-Mashat applauded the results achieved on the ground through the implementation of development programs and partnerships with multilateral and bilateral development partners and various national entities, pointing out that this comes within the framework of the government’s keenness to maximize the impact of international partnerships for the direct benefit of citizens, thus improving the standard of living and income in Upper Egypt. She also thanked the development partners represented by the European Union, the World Food Program, and the UNDP for their efforts.
The Minister explained the importance of the activities implemented through the Women’s Cooperative Society to support and empower craftswomen, enabling them to provide income, enhance efforts to empower women in Upper Egypt economically, and preserve heritage crafts, through training, project start-up consultations, and workshops, in coordination with the national entities, represented by MSMEDA and the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
These efforts come within the project “Enabling the Transition of the MSMEDA to Empower Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises and Entrepreneurship,” which began in 2021, to expand the capabilities of the new services of the MSMEDA, and to strengthen and integrate the system for small businesses, via the digital transformation and innovation to increase efficiency and resilience in the face of shocks and crises through a number of pillars.
Moreover, the Minister of International Cooperation stressed the importance of cooperation between the European Union, the UNDP, and national entities through the “Wa’ai” program for community development, which enhances social protection efforts targeting families enrolled within the Takaful and Karama social protection program. The awareness program includes topics such as child marriage, combating female genital mutilation, health and education issues, the rights of people with disabilities, and economic empowerment of poor and marginalized families to move them from protection to production.
Al-Mashat noted that the Ministry works through economic diplomacy to enhance international cooperation and implement development partnerships in various fields, in a way that supports the country’s efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.
It is worth noting that the strategic framework for the partnership between Egypt and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023 - 2027 was signed and launched during May 2023, inaugurating a new strategic phase in joint cooperation relations with one of the largest and oldest international organizations, the United Nations. It was also recently announced that efforts are being made to enhance joint relations with the European Union to the level of strategic partnerships during the visit of the President of the European Commission to Egypt.
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