Al-Mashat Meets with WFP Regional Director in MENA Region to Discuss Cooperation

The Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with Corinne Fleischer, the World Food Programme’s newly appointed Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in the presence of Mengstab Haile, Country Director and Representative of the World Food Program (WFP) in Egypt.

Al-Mashat and Fleischer discussed development cooperation relations with the WFP in the fields of agricultural and rural development in Egypt in order to empower small-scale farmers.

Al-Mashat congratulated Ms. Fleischer on her recent appointment in December 2020, and referred to the vital role the WFP plays through implementing projects across different countries from all over the world aiming to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and to put an end to hunger and poverty across the globe. Al-Mashat stated that the WFP’s Nobel Peace Prize award in 2020 is considered a great evidence of the pivotal role its fund plays in consolidating peace, security and stability in societies by eradicating poverty and hunger from the world.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat reviewed the measures taken by Egypt to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic across the health, social and economic sectors by developing a homegrown response plan that instills precautionary measures to curb the spread of the virus, secure adequate needs of strategic goods, and support the informal working force in Egypt.

Al-Mashat also emphasized the importance of the Ministry of International Cooperation’s partnership with the WFP’s office in Egypt and the role the WFP plays through partnering with government institutions as well, in order to implement several projects that aim to develop rural communities and empower small farmers in a way that advances the achievement of Egypt’s Vision 2030. Al-Mashat added that she looks forward to expanding the partnership with the WFP in the upcoming period to further support Egypt’s plan of achieving an integrated rural development.

For her part, Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, expressed the WFP’s interest in establishing a strategic partnership with Egypt, adding that she aspires for more work in the future in order to push towards achieving the UN’s SGDs. She also applauded Egypt’s effort in facing the pandemic, mitigating ist socioeconomic and health impacts and pulling through with a positive GDP.

Fleischer joined the WFP in 1999, and assumed several roles and assignments in many WFP countries of operation. She assumed her position as the Regional Director of the WFP in December 2020, after working as the WFP’s Country Director in Syria since 2018.

The WFP is one of the United Nations’ agencies, focused on implementing projects in Egypt in partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation and other government entities to push towards the global sustainability targets; the affiliation falls under the framework of the UN’s partnership strategy for the period of 2018 - 2022.

The Ministry’s ongoing cooperation portfolio with the WFP amounts to $586 million, through which several projects are implemented, one of which is the project aiming to achieve rural and agricultural development in Upper Egypt. During its first phase, the WFP has implemented projects in 63 villages across 5 governorates.

In February 2021, the Ministry of International Cooperation held a meeting with the WFP, with the participation of the Ministry of Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and the Ministry of Social Solidarity, to discuss proposals of expanding the scope of projects that aim to achieve agricultural and rural development in the Egyptian countryside, within the framework of the Presidential initiative to push towards Egypt’s rural agenda, “A Decent Life”.