Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation hosted the second virtual Multi-Stakeholder platform on global partnerships for effective development cooperation. The first meeting was held last April with more than 120 representatives from 45 international institutions and foreign courts to discuss the North African country's response and rebuild strategy, immediate requests by the Health Ministry to combat coronavirus and the ministry's global partnerships narrative, People at the core, Projects in action, and Purpose as the driver. The second multi-stakeholder platform acknowledged cooperation to fight against the Covid-19 and highlighted the active ongoing partnerships portfolio and the wide array of projects and initiatives that are under negotiation and implementation covering various sectors. These sector included health, electricity, transportation, housing, community development, education, and women empowerment with an emphasis on partnerships that support the private sector directly and also through financing by local banks. It included the participation of several multilateral and bilateral development partners, such as the UN and its agencies, World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Islamic Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), African Development Bank (AFDB), and JICA, besides foreign courts including UK, Spain, Canada, France, Germany, and the European Union. "Increased coordinated action is key to boosting confidence and providing stability to the global, regional and local economy," said International Cooperation Minister Rania Al-Mashat. "The Ministry of International Cooperation through pillars of Economic Diplomacy that were identified early on, aims to ensure that Covid-19 does not derail us from pushing forward with the SDG agenda", Al-Mashat added. The International Cooperation Ministry aims to push the frontiers of collaboration through Economic Diplomacy, since the launching in April 2020, to achieve value-centric results through the set up of Multi-Stakeholder Platforms, activating the Global Partnerships Narrative and creating the framework for Official Development Assistance (ODA) mapping to the sustainable development goals. The third pillars of ‘Economy Diplomacy' actively includes a wide range of stakeholders to enhance a sense of ownership, developed knowledge, creating a linkage between different governance levels and most significantly improved policy formulation. Since the launch in April 2020, the International Cooperation Ministry organised participatory Multi-Stakeholder platforms in various sectors since the virus, focusing on discussing different areas such as the health sector, public enterprises, transportation, rural and agricultural development and gender quality, and monitor progress in the implementation of projects. In its effort to promote effective development cooperation and ensure the optimal contribution of development cooperation projects to the UN SDFS, the Ministry of International Cooperation also conducted a comprehensive ODA mapping exercise of all current effective projects to identify their alignment with the SDGs.
