Egypt and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). officials met to discuss areas of common cooperation and the role the UNFPA plays in supporting national development efforts towards achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030.
The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Rania El-Mashat, met with Ambassador Ib Petersen, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The meeting discussed areas of common cooperation and the role the UNFPA plays in supporting national development efforts towards achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030, according to a minister statement.
The UN and its affiliated agencies and programmes are playing a vital role in supporting the Government of Egypt’s priorities to achieve sustainable development, through the strategic framework of the 2018/2022 partnership between Egypt and the UN, El-Mashat said.
El-Mashat also applauded the UN agencies’ efforts in supporting Egypt’s response plan to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. Especially the role played by the UNFPA as a strategic partner in implementing national policies, such as the National Population Strategy 2015/2030, the implementation of the National Strategy to combat Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (2014-2018), and supporting the recently launched National Youth Strategy 2021-2026, implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports along with other line ministries.
The minister emphasised Egypt’s commitment to investing in human capital towards supporting development efforts, noting that Egypt has taken further steps towards the development of the Egyptian family, and women empowerment.
The Minister pointed out that women are at the forefront of the national development plans and the government’s reform agenda, which is reflected on the Egyptian family, noting that Egypt was the first country to issue women-specific responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, through a policy paper responding to the needs of women during the pandemic and encompassing 21 measures.
