A conference held in Cairo last week hammered home a message to policymakers: empowerment of women is the clearest path towards development, Reem Leila reports The economic empowerment of women is high on the agenda of the National Council for Women (NCW). Last week, the council organised a conference entitled "Women's Economic Participation: Chances and Challenges" to discuss the challenges facing women in different economic sectors and the means of promoting their economic empowerment. The conference was attended by Andre Saint- Pierre, director of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), in addition to economic experts from around the world. Conference attendees agreed there is a dire need to develop and equip women through advanced educational and training programmes that would capitalise on their economic capacities and leadership skills. Meanwhile, the government is exerting efforts to curb the phenomenon of the feminisation of poverty by supporting poor female workers in the unofficial sector and rural women. It also aims at raising the competitive ability of women in the labour market in light of market policies, privatisation and globalisation and reducing the rate of female unemployment. According to official statistics released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2006, females accounted for 22.6 per cent of the total workforce in 2006. In 2003, female contributions in economic activities reached around 13.3 per cent. The majority of female workers reside in rural areas and account for 57 per cent of total female workers. The agricultural sector is the most accommodating sector for female workers. Statistics for the year 2003 reveal that women's participation in the governmental sector is about 25 per cent, in the private sector around 14 per cent, and in public enterprises around 12 per cent. Around 50,000 female workers are being trained annually. Although Egypt is considered a "middle income" country, poverty continues to be a major concern. CIDA's approach focuses particularly on helping the poor and those in need. Since its inception in 1976, the CIDA/Egypt Programme has provided over one billion Canadian dollars to support Egypt, the money delivered through hundreds of diverse assistance projects. CIDA's manager states that "further cooperation with Egypt is yet to come". The current (2001-2011) Country Development Programming Framework (CDPF) being implemented in Egypt outlines the rationale for CIDA's activities in Egypt. The programme renews the focus on supporting Egypt's poverty reduction efforts among the country's marginalised groups, in particular women, children and youth, as it focuses on two main areas, among them small and medium enterprise (SME) development. This programme is meant to strengthen job creation efforts and to improve living standards and incomes. "This is done by focussing on expanding the capacity of existing institutions to develop policy and provide business development services," says Saint-Pierre. Mona El-Baradei, chairperson of the Economic Committee of the NCW, said that, "we are looking forward to a time in the near future when women will be empowered to take up leadership positions and present their advanced visions for reform in economic policies related to labour, wages, trade, supply, housing, development, taxes, insurance and market supervision, in order to achieve greater performance, efficacy and social justice." The NCW will adopt a methodology of integration and participation as a means to transform the position of women from one of aid recipient to one of leadership. "This will be achieved by focussing on the quality of educational, training and awareness-raising programmes to create new leaders who believe in voluntary action and who participate in public affairs through the various organisations of civil society, whether associations, syndicates or political parties," stated El-Baradei. The issue of women's empowerment has been identified as one of the major development challenges that Egypt faces. First, gender equality must be achieved, with women able to participate fully in the democratic process. Farkhonda Hassan, secretary-general of the NCW, revealed that the council is focussed on economically empowering female households in facing financial challenges. A special programme for female heads of household (FHHs), according to Hassan, provides women with microcredit loans, the use of which is envisaged in the context of long-term national development plans. With input from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Social Fund for Development (SFD) and the Public Authority for Adult Education (PAAE), the programme facilitates the empowerment of impoverished FHHs by focussing on individual income-generating projects and the development of centres of training in non-traditional professions. "It has been said that the first step towards change is to realise that it's possible," according to Hassan. "Over the last several years, we have realised it's possible to reach women, including very poor women, and to transform their lives and those of their families and communities by doing no more than providing them with a financial services like this. The programme has proved excellent indeed; it is certainly among the most effective means to empowerment available to us at the present time." "Besides achieving economic empowerment for women it will also eliminate all forms of discrimination against them in access to work opportunities and credit-facilities," Hassan added.
