Egypt, USAID Launch Inter-Community Girls’ Empowerment

Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat partook on Tuesday in the launching ceremony of a new grant agreement in cooperation with USAID, worth $3 million, on the Inter-Community Girls’ Empowerment Activity to empower girls in Upper Egypt.

The grant, launched on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl, will provide girls access to education, health, and promoting awareness of cultural persity among different communities.

The ceremony was held at the headquarters of the American Embassy in Cairo in the presence of USAID director in Washington John Barsa, who is visiting Egypt for the first time, US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen, Director of the USAID office in Egypt Leslie Reed, and President of the National Council for Women Dr. Maya Morsi.

The project brings together different stakeholders, including the minister of social solidarity, and NCW president, in addition to Nidaa Egypt Foundation for Integrated Development and the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) to achieve inclusive sustainable development.

It focuses on empowering girls in Upper Egypt, namely Minya and Qena, and its key objectives are related to women’s empowerment, ensuring access to education, health, and work; and promoting awareness on cultural persity among different communities.

[caption id="attachment_156581" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] US Cohen and Minister Al-Mashat[/caption]

Al-Mashat stressed the importance of the role of civil society organizations and the private sector have always been major partners with the Egyptian government as key players contributing to economic growth and social development in Egypt, noting that involving all stakeholders is a key role of the ministry of international cooperation to promote dialogue and strong partnerships.

“Our strategic partnership with the government of the United States and USAID is sustained through forward-looking development programs that push forward inclusive economic growth in line with the government’s vision."

"This year, we identified seven priority sectors and allocated additional financing to execute more projects in health, education, higher education, science & technology, agriculture, governance, and trade," Al-Mashat added.

In June, the Ministry of International Cooperation, in cooperation with UN Development Program Egypt, AltFinLab, and the Neya Foundation, launched the Kemama campaign to fund the production of medical masks in Upper Egypt.

Around 34 projects, worth $3.3 billion, are being executed to achieve the targets of gender equality, with the top targeted sectors including health (20%), education (14), and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) (15%).

All projects fall under the ministry’s new Global Partnerships Narrative: People&Projects&Purpose to put Egyptian people at the core of every project and implement projects with various stakeholders to achieve the targets of the 17 SDGs.