Project to train 8,000 girls as Egypt takes step towards gender equality
About 8,000 girls will benefit from a pilot scheme that aims to achieve gender equality in Egypt.
The Noura initiative, led by the UN and backed by the Egyptian government and private and public sector partners, will build the social, health and economic prospects of girls aged 10 to 18 through a 40week intensive programme.
The UN Population Fund programme has been introduced in countries including Ethiopia, India, Guatemala and Uganda.
The pilot will begin in January and 8,000 trainees and 1,000 mentors are being selected for peer support. The girls will be given training sessions on topics including health issues and financial literacy in partnership with NGOs.
Participants will be chosen from 20 villages in Sohag and Assiut in Upper Egypt. The project will be expanded if funding is available, organisers said.
“More diversity, more gender equality leads to more wellbeing and more prosperity,” said Frederika Meijer, the UNFPA Egypt representative, at the launch event.
“There are around nine million adolescent girls in Egypt. Investing in them and allowing them to reach their full potential means investing in the entire population.”
Egypt ranked 129th out of 156 countries in the latest annual gender gap report, gaining five places from the year before.
There has been improvement, with 27 per cent of Egypt’s parliamentary representatives and 24 per cent of ministers being women, but progress has been slow, the report said.
“Empowering Egyptian women, or empowering women at large, is empowering a nation. And investing in young girls is empowering the future of the nation,” said Maya Morsy, president of the National Council for Women, one of the project’s partners.
International Co-operation Minister Rania Al Mashat said the focus on adolescent girls was important to support Egypt’s 2030 vision in line with the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals.
The Noura initiative addresses the main goal of gender equality, but will also contribute to at least seven other goals, including quality education, zero poverty, and good health and well-being.
UNFPA signed two agreements with the Sawiris Foundation and the Export Development Bank of Egypt to support the Noura initiative.
The Sawiris Foundation focuses on pressing issues facing marginalised Egyptians such as poverty, unemployment, lack of health services and limited access to quality education.
“Ten to 18 is generally an age group that we don’t target and it’s very important for reducing early childhood marriage, preventing female genital mutilation, promoting reproductive health, and so on,” said Noura Selim, executive director of the Sawiris Foundation.
Egypt ranked 129th out of 156 countries in the latest annual gender gap report, gaining five places on the year before