Cairo, 11 December 2024- The Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation together with the National Council for Women and in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women organized a closing ceremony today marking the conclusion of “Enhancing Gender Equality and Empowering Women and Girls in Egypt” programme, implemented with the generous support of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). 

The closing ceremony brought together Counsellor Amal Ammar, President of the National Council for Women,  H.E. Younghyon Kim, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Egypt, Ms. Marwa Alameldeen, UN Women Country Representative a.i., Ms. Germaine Haddad, UNFPA Assistant Representative, with a recorded message from H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation.

Counselor Amal Ammar said that the strategic partnership with KOICA, UNFPA and UN Women worked on several important files, including the protection axis in the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030, which includes integrated interventions to ensure prevention, protection and comprehensive support for victims of violence. 

She added: "This partnership was represented in supporting the main components and programs of the National Council for Women’s work by supporting the national referral pathway and implementing capacity-building programs, specialized workshops and knowledge guidelines for partners, in addition to establishing Safe Women Clinics and implementing programs with the Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecution, in addition to the pivotal partnership in establishing vocational training programs for women who are subjected to violence at the governorate level."

H.E. Ambassador Yonghyon Kim acknowledged that the joint efforts in partnership with community-based organizations and youth volunteers had achieved significant outcomes to combat gender-based violence and harmful practices and to support women to stand on their own with economic resilience and capability. He praised all participants and beneficiaries for being courageous and tenacious in making their lives better and contributing to a just and equitable society together. 

“Today we mark the closure of an important programme that contributed to the empowerment of women employees and entrepreneurs across the various sectors to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge to confidently join the labor market. UN Women project has also significantly contributed to expanding a gender-responsive private sector that attracts, retains and invests in women through the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles,” stated Ms. Marwa Alameldeen, UN Women Country Representative a.i.

“With KOICA’s support, we contributed to strengthening national protection and response systems to gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls, as well as helped raise community awareness through youth-led initiatives to create a zero tolerance environment towards all forms of violence against women and girls. This brought us one step closer in combating gender-based violence and advancing gender equality in Egypt,” Germaine Haddad, UNFPA Assistant Representative said.

Ms. Jinyoung Kim, Country Director of KOICA Egypt Office expressed that the office would make the most of the momentum of the accomplishments and mutual partnership and continue its support for the national capacity building to effectively address the gender-based violence and for social integration of women and refugees through vocational and technical education. 

The progamme, which ran from 2021 to 2024, covered two main projects namely “Preventing and Combating Gender Based Violence in Egypt” and “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt”. The joint effort under these two projects were implemented by UNFPA and UN Women in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Education and Technical Education and the National Council for Women.

The “Preventing and Combating Gender Based Violence in Egypt” project, implemented by UNFPA, focused on strengthening national protection and response systems and institutions in addressing gender-based violence and harmful practices, as well as enhancing youth-led community awareness and knowledge around them.

The “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt” project, implemented by UN Women aimed at enhancing women’s economic empowerment by facilitating decent job opportunities, access to skills development and advocacy for creating an enabling environment in the community and the private sector through the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). 

During the event, teams from UNFPA and UN Women presented the key achievements of the programme; in addition to a presentation by KOICA’s performance management team.

Throughout the event, the audience had the opportunity to engage in simulations and interactive sessions showcasing the different services and capacity-building activities implemented throughout the programme to get a better sense of the activities that took place on-ground and the type of services that was offered to the participants of the programme. 

An exhibition was also held on the sidelines of the closing ceremony through which the participants of the programme, Egyptian women and refugees, displayed their handmade products that they managed to develop after the vocational trainings received. A photo exhibition featuring stories from the Noura program was also held.