At the end of November, the Embassy of Sweden in Cairo and Ain Shams University arranged a cultural day, with a special focus on education and gender equality. The event included a Swedish-Egyptian cultural exhibit, a seminar by Swedish professors promoting gender equality through children's literature and a panel discussion on Sustainable Development Goals for quality education and gender equality. More than two hundred Egyptian students, teachers and university faculty/professors in the field of education attended the event, which was organized by the embassy, in cooperation with Ain Shams University's Faculty of Education and the university's International Relations and Cooperation Office (IRCO), and with support by the Swedish Institute. The cultural day opened with welcome remarks by Dr. Rasha Kamal, Director of IRCO; Dr. Ahmed Ali, Lecturer of Linguistics in the Department of English; Dr. Said Khalil, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University; Dr. Maged Abu Elenain, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies & Research Affairs; and Mrs. Charlotta Sparre, Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt. A former graduate of Ain Shams University and a Swedish university Master's programme, Dr. Mohamed Sarhan, also spoke and shared his experience studying in Sweden. After opening a cultural exhibition, professors, teachers and students from the Faculty of Education attended a seminar about children's education and gender equality held by Swedish professors Dr Anna Nordlund and Ann Boglind. In the afternoon, a panel discussion was held around the Sustainable Development Goals, with a special focus on Goal #4 Quality Education & Goal #5 Gender Equality. This panel discussion was part of the #First Generation campaign, an initiative by the Swedish Foreign Ministry to spread knowledge about the Global Goals and the important role of educators in engaging young people in sustainable development. The panelists included H.E. Ambassador Wafaa Bassim; UNICEF Director Mr. Bruno Maes; UNESCO Officer-in-Charge Dr. Nazar Hassan; UN Women Education Programme Specialist Ms. Hoda Kamal; and Dr. Nardeen Nabil, Professor of Literature at Ain Shams University. The discussion was moderated by the Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt, Mrs. Charlotta Sparre. The last point on the programme was a screening of the Swedish documentary "Astrid," a film about the world famous Swedish children's book author Astrid Lindgren, who (among other books) wrote the famous ‘Pippi Longstocking'. Throughout the day, attendees had a chance to explore an Egyptian-Swedish culture exhibit which highlighted Swedish children's literature, Sweden's global commitment, holidays and cultural icons, including Pippi Longstocking and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Egyptian heritage was also highlighted through ancient handicrafts such as pottery and sculptures of ancient pharos. "There are many different fields to explore in cooperation and in dialogue. But what could be better that to start from the beginning and to aim for the future?" said Ambassador Charlotta Sparre during the event, "The beginning of course being childhood and the future being the young generation".
