You will like this one, dears: Khaled Shaheen, no other than the Jordanian businessman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Shaheen Business and Investment Group (SBIG), recently pledged more than $2 million to the American University in Cairo (AUC). And part of the new campus will be named after him in gratitude. The scholarship will be annually divided among five Palestinian undergraduates, and it will cover tuition, books and supplies as well as room and board. AUC recently held its annual chairman dinner in honour of the AUC board of trustees, and it was then that Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif presented Shaheen 's special advisor award to the chairman and deputy head of the strategic planning committee of SBIG, Jawad Anani, who was present on Shaheen 's behalf. A very close friend of mine, the head of the Afro-Asian Lawyers Union for Human Rights, Essmat El-Merghani, held a seminar, "Human Rights in Relation to Consumer Rights", at the Cairo Capital Club (CCC). Among the guests were vice-minister of the General Department of Legislation Affairs Hisham Ragab and many gorgeous luminaries. Once again, the International Women's Day, my beauties, and a conference at the charming Italian Cultural Centre: "Women's Economic Empowerment: the Road to Decision Making". And once again, yet again, my colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader was the fortunate party who attended. Organised in collaboration with the Gender and Development (GAD) Sub-Group of the Donor Assistance Group (DAG), UNDP and the Social Research Centre (SRC) of the American University in Cairo, the conference featured a host of favourite speakers: Egyptian Business Women Association (EBWA) President Amani Asfour, technical advisor at the Women's Business Centre (NCW) Zeinab Safar, Egyptian Chairperson of the Arab Alliance for Women Hoda Badran, and the Director-General of Human Community Development Group Social Fund for Development Omar El-Farouk. Also present was the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science Heba Nasser, and Executive Director of the Economic Research Forum Samir Radwan, who oversaw the meeting. An occasion to bolster public awareness of the need to increase female economic participation, its highlight was Nasser 's presentation of the findings of a recent UNIFEM/UNDP survey, "Skill requirement and women in the labour Market", which highlighted both failures and success stories, giving a fairly accurate picture of women's economic status. But there are thrills to be had yet, honeybunnies: the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will arrive in Egypt on 20 March and stay for four days. Their purpose: to promote inter-faith understanding and tolerance -- the subject of a keynote speech by the prince, who will also lay a wreath at the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Al-Alamein. It seems US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone was busy this week, dears. First he attended an AUC students' musical concert together with the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission Bruce Lohof and his wife Anne Marie, as well as AUC President David Arnold and his wife Sherry. Then he attended the opening session of Cairo University's fifth annual Model American Congress (MAC) -- where, at the Grand Hyatt's Laylati Hall, 175 students demonstrated their diplomatic skill. photo: Ayman Barayez The cultural salon, dears: what a marvellous example of retro. I've always been a big fan of literature, and the time spent at Lebanese lawyer Rita Badreddin 's brought back to me that glowing intellectual edge. The topic was Arab intellectuals, my lovely dovies, and the obstacles facing them. But -- more to the point, indeed -- I finally had my reunion with a coterie of lovable friends: cardiologist Adel Imam, Algerian Ambassador to Egypt Abdul-Qader Haggar, Cuban Ambassador to Egypt Angel Dalmau Fernàndez, chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) Samir Sarhan, former charge d'affairs of the Afghanistan Embassy to Cairo Mohamed Ashraf, singer Mona Ash Ash and actress Manal Afifi. And another dinner at the Nile Hilton. Okay, I always love them. There is enough excitement when they are hosted by the Lions Garden City Club, but when their principal guests are the Egyptian Football Federation and national team members -- on this occasion celebrating Egypt's triumph at the African Cup of Nations -- the excitement can hardly be contained. Among my table companions were some very good friends indeed, and I enjoyed chatting them up to the last morsel: Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui, President of the Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin, television anchor Soheir Shalabi, and National team goalkeeper EssamEl-Hadari. Now for some national sentiment, my darlings. The 29th anniversary of Libya's independence, and sure enough Libyan Ambassador to Egypt Saleh El-Darouki held a party at Marriott Hotel. The guests were all beloveds, dears: Emirates Ambassador Ahmed Ali Al-Zoghbi, Lebanese Ambassador Abdul-Latif Al-Mamlouk, Saudi ambassador Hisham Nazer, Egyptian Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils Moufid Shehab, Minister of Manpower and Emigration Aicha Abdel-Hadi, and talented actresses Fardous Abdel - Hamid and Pussi.
