Cairo, 10 March 2012 - UNFPA participated in the 101st International Women’s Day celebration at the Cairo Opera House. The evening was organized by UN Women, CARE and the Gender and Development Donors Subgroup (GAD Group) in Egypt. 
The event - titled ‘Laha’ (for Her) in appreciation of Egyptian women’s contributions and achievements to the advancement of Egypt  - gathered “700 citizens, advocates, general public, donors, policymakers, peer organizations, partners and supporters, media, humanitarians and global leaders to celebrate the achievements of women, and urge stakeholders to support girls’ and women’s empowerment”. 

The main message, focused on the empowerment of women in their interest as well as in the interest of their families and their communities, started with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement, delivered by UNIC Director Khawla Mattar, and with the message of the UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Mr. James Rawley. 
Through those statements and through videos and panels around the role of women in Egyptian society, in history, in religion and in politics; the speakers and performers presented interesting stories of empowerment. The first panel titled “Prominent Role of Women in Egyptian Society” focused on how women would gain their rights after participating side by side in the events of the 25th of January revolution. In the second panel “Women in Religion, Politics and Society” the speakers shared their dreams and aspirations for Egyptian women. 

Highlight of the ceremony, six public figures and role models for their achievements in the fields of gender equality and the empowerment of women were honoured: Dr.Amena Nosseir with her 40 years spent in the area of scientific research and publications in the fields of philosophy, religion, family, children and women’s issues; Dr.Aziza Hussein, notable for her impressive pioneering initiatives, establishing the first rural nursery school in Egypt, the first non-governmental family planning program or establishing the first project against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM); Dr. Fouad A. Riad, who fought for many decades to redeem women as fully fledged citizens side by side with men; Dr.Hoda Badran who worked for the UN for several years, chaired the international committee on The Rights of the Child and is the founder of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood; Dr.Marie Assaad who dedicated most of her life to combating FGM; and Ambassador Mervat M.Tallawy with her long career as a Diplomat and a Minister committed to the advancement of the Egyptian society improving the status of women. 

UNFPA’s specific message for 2012 “Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty” was clearly shared through the screening of a short movie by White Ribbon Alliance and UNFPA called “Stories of Midwives”. Indeed, today, over 340,000 women and over 3 million infants around the world die each year as a result of preventable pregnancy and childbirth complications. Most of these deaths would be prevented if there were enough qualified and adequately resourced midwives.

In Minia, Egypt, only 58% of the deliveries are attended by medical personnel and only 48% have gotten regular antenatal care; nurse midwifes are definitely pivotal key players in improving maternal health in some governorates of Egypt. The UNFPA supported project “Enhancing Maternal Health”, implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population – Maternal and Child Health Department - aims at empowering women and reducing Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR), in Fayoum (it is 43/100,000), in Beni Suef (it is 65/100,000) and in Minia (it is 64/100,000) through training primary health care nurses to become certified midwives.

The trainings focus on providing the nurse midwives with knowledge and materials to conduct normal deliveries and refer immediately cases of complicated deliveries. Besides this primary role, the nurse midwives also provide antenatal care services. Nurse midwives are more popular in rural areas where home deliveries are more prevalent; they are an essential link to the communities and a step toward to rural women’s empowerment.