It is Egypt's people and government, not the international community, who will decide their agenda of priorities says Lynn Pascoe, under secretary-general of the United Nations for Political Affairs. In an interview with MENA before departing from Cairo this morning, Pascoe stressed that the UN is willing to offer aid to Egypt but that the country's government has priorities for the coming period including running the first post-Mubarakelections, drafting a constitution, developing the national economy, structuring legislative frameworks and making the rule of law prevail. Pascoe pointed out that Egypt is heading in the right direction but the current situation will take time to resolve and the UN staff working in both Egypt and Tunisia are rebuilding their programs to fit with the changing situation. He added that the UN will also offer short-term aid to help solve some obstacles including unemployment. Pascoe also said that Egypt and Tunisia are middle-income nations that do not need much help from international organizations. However, they will be happy to offer the countries help in areas where they lack expertise, such as the elections. However, Pascoe said that the election process in Tunisia is very different from that of Egypt, because Tunisians have created an elections committee which is supported by the UN.
