Cairo, 4 March 2018 –Today, the Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Egypt, Dr. Aleksandar Bodiroza and H.E Mr. Paul Garnier, Ambassador of Switzerland in Egypt and Counsellor Marwa Lasheen Head of Egyptian Economy Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited Assiut University. During the visit, the delegation announced the official launch of the Y-PEER Innovation and Life Skills Center, in addition to meeting the Anti-sexual Harassment Unit team in Assiut University. The delegation also met a number of families benefiting from the outreach activities to combat Female Genital Mutilation implemented by UNFPA in Al-Fateh district.

The delegation was welcomed by a number of senior representatives from the board of Assiut University. The activities started with a theater performance by Y-PEER youth network followed by the announcement of the launch of the Innovation and Life Skills Center, a center that will provide assistance to all Egyptian universities with the best practices of the peer education modules to ensure youth engagement in promoting good health practices and gender empowerment. Y-PEER Egypt was launched in 2005 with only three local partners and five active trainers. It all started with conducting small-scale activities and pilot peer education trainings to increase the visibility and reach of the activities. Y-PEER now operates in 23 different governorates in Egypt with 125 NGOs and supports different youth initiatives, in addition to operating in 15 universities in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Health and Population, The National Population Council, The National Council for Women and UN agencies.

The delegation then visited the Anti-sexual Harassment Unit, which was established by UNFPA in 2016 in collaboration with Assiut University, the National Council for Women and the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, and funded by the Norwegian Embassy. This unit is considered a significant step towards addressing institutionally the phenomenon of sexual harassment in university communities. The aim of this unit is to raise awareness among university staff, professors and students regarding their rights in cases where they experience harassment in the university. The unit also makes them aware of the existing reporting mechanisms addressing the concerned parties and supporting the victims.

On the same day, the delegation visited UNFPA-supported outreach activities to combat FGM in Al-Fateh district and met with a number of local community leaders as well as women and girls from the local community who were reached by these awareness raising activities.

For more information, please contact:

Nada Salah, Digital Media Coordinator – UNFPA Egypt

Phone: +2 01224686085, E-mail: salah@unfpa.org