* Founding member of AFICS-Egypt, Mr. Chafik Chamass of UNESCO, was granted the title of "Officier de la Legion d'Honneur" by French Ambassador to Egypt, H.E. Philippe Coste. Mr. Coste appraised Mr. Chamass' career at UNESCO and in Egyptian French speaking daily newspapers, as well as his founding and managing for 16 years a beautiful magazine Aujourd'hui l'Egypte. * Ambassador Mervat Tallawy, Chair of the Governing Board of AFICS-Egypt and former Under Secretary of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNESCWA has been appointed by the Secretary General of the Arab League as General Coordinator of the Arab Socio-Economic Development Summit that is to be held in Kuwait in 2008. AFICS-Egypt is also honoured to welcome two new distinguished members in the association: * Dr. Mostafa Tolba, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Dr. Tolba is the winner of the Special Global Environment Leadership Award granted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in 2003. Following his retirement from UN, Dr. Tolba set up the International Center for Environment and Development, a non-profit funding organization financing environment projects in developing countries. * Dr. Ali Soliman, who recently returned from Jeddah after serving six years as CEO & General Manager of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). Dr. Soliman was First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and International Cooperation in Egypt after having served with the UNDP and the World Bank. * The theme of the most recent monthly AFICS' seminars organized by Dr. Salah El Zoghby, Secretary General of AFICS, UNDP/ FAO Expert, and Professor Emeritus of Rural Development at Cairo University has been the environment and climate change, an area which AFICS- Egypt plans to embrace as a main area of concentration in its 2008 work plan. Dr. Mohamed El Raey, was our October distinguished speaker lecturing on Climate change and its impact on the environment in Egypt. Our November distinguished speaker was Professor Hassan Aboubakr, on Egyptian programme for environmental education. Our monthly seminars are a joint initiative of AFICS and Greater Cairo Library represented by former UNESCO official Mr. Mohamed Mahmoud Hamdy ( also AFICS' member). * AFICS completed a report for the Ministry of Finance and IDRC (Canada) to "Engender Small & Medium Enterprises Policies". The core experts team were AFICS' members, Dr. Salwa Shaarawi Gomaa and Dr. Alia El-Mahdi. The assignment was done in cooperation with Environmental Quality International (EQI) * A general meeting of Afics' members, chaired by Ambassador Mervat Tallawy -- in the presence of AFICS' Honorary President, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, is to be held on 1 December 2007 to discuss the association's programme for the year 2008 and which includes holding bi-annual symposia, the first of which is proposed to take place in Spring 2008. Banking on the immense reservoir of experience and knowledge of its members and partners, AFICS' will debate the most pressing cross- sectoral and cross-boundaries' challenge of our time: the climate change crisis. * The second issue of Arabic "Beyond" or "Ma baed" is to come out shortly on newsstands as advised by its Editor in Chief, Mrs.Hedayat Abdel Nabi, This issue focuses on the Arab world.
