Under the auspices of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak,
First Lady of Egypt, and
President of NCW, the joint NCW/World Bank report on Egypt Gender Assessment was launched.

The launch of this joint report of the National Council for Women (NCW), Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the World Bank report celebrates the completion of extensive multi-disciplinary efforts by a range of gender experts both in and outside of Egypt who were consulted and who provided input into the production of this report. Drawing on the expertise of these analysts, various Egyptian data sources were analyzed in order to provide an overview of the economic, political and social well-being of Egyptian women and girls, with a particular focus on issues related to political participation, health, education, poverty and the labor market. The report also provides an analysis of why certain outcomes have occurred, as well as emphasizing a number of policy priorities and suggestions.

Its audience is policy makers and advisors on gender issues in the government, donor community, as well as civil society at large. The report is the first output from an ongoing process to devise a gender mainstreaming strategy for Egypt. In particular, this report seeks to assess gender gaps in Egypt and to probe their underlying determinants in an attempt to drive a set of strategies required to address the issue of gender equality.

The Secretary-General of NCW, Dr. Farkhonda Hassan, welcomed Mrs. Mubarak, President of the Council, acknowledged the unfailing support of the World Bank to the Council and invited Mrs. Mubarak to deliver the keynote speech.(speech of Dr. Farkhonda)

In her speech, Mrs. Mubarak commended the initiative and the research undertaken, and expressed her happiness to see "thoughts and aspirations… turning into realities", and indicated that the" ownership of the report guarantees the commitment for future actions, a commitment that recognizes that the report is not just end in itself but a beginning. It is a step towards assignment of responsibilities, monitoring of activities and ensuring that Egypt reaps the benefits of its development efforts…" She added that "the present report, in itself signals how the Council is playing an instrumental role in placing gender concerns and priorities on the national agenda and how… it provides a scientific base that allows us to target our priorities, to plan our actions and to follow up the implementation using well-articulated benchmarks. " The First Lady added that "rural women, in Egypt and in many other development countries represent the most vulnerable group … Improving their status is a national priority". She concluded her speech by "calling on the research community to embrace this report by critically appraising it, debating its findings, supplementing it with more information and knowledge and to include policy alternatives,…. calling on our ministries to establish gender sensitive goals and gender targeted approaches that explicitly address the many concerns identified in this report, to revisit the sectoral targets and review the plans and performance …. and strengthen the alliance with the civil society and with the international community….joining forces to ensure that our unfulfilled aspirations do not remain elusive dreams but become targets within our reach…" (Full text available soon)

The speech was followed by a World Bank address given by Mr. Mahmoud Ayub, Country Director, Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, who confirmed the support of the World Bank to the initiatives of the Egyptian Government and to the National Council for Women, adding that the development priorities of both institutions were the same. He expressed his satisfaction with the interest generated by the report. He added that "... the World Bank has been a loyal partner of NCW in its important mission. The Country Gender Assessment for Egypt, whose launch we are celebrating today, is a good example of a joint product of NCW and the World Bank." In response to the First Lady's request for additional support in NCW's priority areas, Dr. Ayub confirmed that as the World Bank was starting to plan its "next Country Assistance Strategy for Egypt for the next 3-4 years, these areas will be given high priority. More generally, we will be actively seeking out opportunities to support Egypt's efforts to reduce gender biases, and work closely with Egypt's other development partners in empowering women politically, socially and economically." (Full text of speech)

Dr. Mustapha Nabli, Chief Economist and Sector Director of the Social and Economic Development Group, MENA Region, also commended the efforts of all concerned in the preparation and production of the report and thanked Mrs. Mubarak for her keen interest in development issues. He added that the report covers most of the important issues but he would like to be allowed to speak briefly on the conditions of women in the region, particularly the economic conditions and with the issue of women participation in the labour market, since the entire region suffers from limited productivity and limited participation in the labour market. He recommended that innovative approaches be sought to raise the skills of women and that efforts should concentrate on the economic empowerment of women. (Full text will be available soon)

The presentation of the actual report followed.

Dr. Hoda Rashad, Director of the Social Research Centre, and Member of the National Council for Women, gave a brief presentation on Women and Health, (available) concentrating on the most salient characteristics and concerns in this area. She was followed by Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aal, American University in Cairo, made a short presentation on Rural Women (available), which is one of the crucial issues of the Council.

A presentation on Women and the Labor Market by Dr. Naglaa El Ahwany, Cairo University, followed by another on poverty including the impact of the structural adjustment reform on women employment by Dr. Sahar Nasr, World Bank Staff and Member of the National Council for Women (available)

The last presentation was by Mrs. Mona Zulficar, Shalakani Law Office, and Member of the NCW who described the recent achievements of the Council in the legal field, i.e the significant inputs in the personal status laws, the nationality law, the establishment of the family court as well as a number of other issues, all pertaining to the equality of men and women in the judiciary, including among others the right of the husband to the pension of his deceased wife, etc…"

Mrs. Nadereh Chamlou, Senior Adviser of the World Bank, wrapped up the meeting by expressing the satisfaction of the World Bank with the report and by confirming that the priorities of the World Bank coincided with those of the Council. She added that the Bank was reiterating its support to the Council and would remain ready to extend to it its full cooperation.