CAIRO: While the Arab world has seen major progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), challenges still persist with violence against women and gender inequality, Untied Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, said. In a lecture titled “The United Nations, Millennium Development Goals and the Youth” held at the American University in Cairo (AUC) Wednesday, Akasaka discussed the MDGs and their status in the Arab world. In the Sub-Saharan African countries in particular, he said, women's rights and poverty reduction are a major problem. Akasaka cited an international poll released in May 2010 about domestic violence against women and children. “In Egypt, 33 percent said that this type of violence is not justified but sometimes it is, the percentage is even higher in Sudan and Palestine,” he said, “so people still justify violence against women.” “There is a need for stronger entities to work on this problem,” he asserted. Another major problem in relation to violence against women is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), he said. “In 2007 a young girl was killed from FGM, ever since then the practice was banned but I hear it continues so we need strong and firm advocates to [fight] it,” he said. The MDGs, which have been agreed upon by the 192 member states of the UN, include objectives such as the reduction of poverty, universal primary education, gender equality, reduction of child mortality rate by two-thirds, stagnation and reduction of HIV/AIDS and environment sustainability. “We have only five more years for the 2015 deadline and we have a tall target, but thanks to the development in China and India we'll maybe achieve them,” said Akasaka. Akasaka is on an official visit to Egypt during which he delivered the keynote speech to the third Global Seminar on Linguistic Diversity, Globalization and Development at Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Akasaka also met with senior Egyptian officials, including Assistant Foreign Minister Hisham El Zemity; as well as senior Islamic, Coptic and civil Society figures in the country. Akasaka will be holding a meeting with professors from the faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, to seek means of enhancing ongoing cooperation between the UN and Cairo University. AUC has joined us in a new initiative by the UN department of Communications and Public Information, where universities exchange practices and information about what they do in terms of UN goals. Akasaka was speaking to an audience of AUC students, saying he was excited to talk to the “leaders of tomorrow.” He pointed out to the young students that “once you are hooked in an interest of the United Nations at a young age, you'll be hooked forever.” He himself had joined the Model United Nations during university years and 30 years the dream came true when UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed him to the position of UN Under-Secretary for Communication and Public Information on February 9, 2007. Engagement with UN can be bestowed in various forms, in academia, as a diplomat or at a non-governmental organization, he said. “We know that in this region the UN has not been popular, especially in Algeria, Morocco, in Egypt 53 percent agree that the UN is a global conspiracy against the Arab World,” said Akasaka. “We have been doing a lot of work, [especially] UNESCO, UNICEF, WFP and with refugees in Palestine, as well as the protection of human rights and the environment,” he noted. “[So we] urge you to getaway from this preconceived concern […we want to create a] better world in this part of the world. “The world has been changing, new information technology helping us, it is now easy to find and get information and know other people through the internet and other means of information technology,” Akasaka told students. “I'm glad that 10 to 15 years ago we used to talk about access to information, but today the gap narrowed and there is no more digital divide,” he recalled. “In Egypt 13 million people have access to the internet, that is one in every six people, and in 10 to 15 years time, this percentage will grow to 50 percent or more,” Akasaka added.
