Egypt has received two of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD) 2020 Sustainability Awards, especially in the fields of renewable energy, preserving the environment and empowering women, said international cooperation minister on Sunday. Egypt won the silver and bronze awards as a part of EBRD's Sustainability Awards that recognize achievements in five specific categories: sustainable energy, climate resilience, environmental and social best practice, environmental and social innovation, and gender and inclusion, Minister Rania el Mashaat added. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) received the silver award in the sustainable energy filed for its commitment to promoting innovation and equal opportunities and ‘green skills' for woman working in Egypt's renewable energy field, Mashaat said. She added that the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) won EBRD's bronze award in the "Gender and Inclusion" category for forming a committee to monitor the prevention of sexual harassment on railways transportation. A total of 16 clients from 11 countries were selected for EBRD's gold, silver and bronze awards, the minister noted. The Ministry of International Cooperation is committed to closing the gender gap by ensuring each project under its portfolio, has a component allocated to women contributing to the acceleration of achieving SDG No. 5. The Minister emphasized the efforts done by the EBRD in ENR's awareness campaign to combat sexual harassment in the railway network. On his part, Khalid Hamza, Associate Director, Deputy Head of Egypt at EBRD said "The results of the Environmental and Sustainability awards are independently judged. The deserved award of our Egyptian clients is hence another testament of the successful government reforms which are focused the on the key issues that affect Egyptian society today," adding that "EBRD is pleased to contribute to this through its investments in EETC and ENR.” EBRD's Annual Sustainability Awards recognizes businesses, a government ministry and a city that have made outstanding contributions toward promoting environmental and social sustainability. Sustainability underlies all EBRD operations and the Sustainability Awards recognize clients that the Bank works with that are also committed to ensuring sustainability is at the heart of their operations. Alistair Clark, EBRD Managing Director, Environment and Sustainability said: "These Awards recognize the great achievements of our clients in going beyond business as usual to address key environmental and social issues within their projects." A special ceremony for the Sustainability Awards was scheduled to take place at the EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum in May 2020, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Clark added: "We look forward to celebrating in person with all our award winners when circumstances allow.”
