Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat discussed with United Nations Resident Coordinator Richard Dictus more effective funds in the local market, a Saturday ministerial statement said. "We look forward to boosting the strategic partnership with the UN. Egypt's government is working to strengthen the role of women as a main pillar of the country's development," Al-Mashat said. Both sides already agreed on their strategic partnership framework from 2018 to 2022, which is worth $1.2bn, the statement read out, noting that this framework is in line with the governmental priorities for development. Al-Mashat asserted the keenness of the government on boosting partnerships between the private and public sectors, noting that providing smart finance for the projects that serve sustainable development goals (SDGs) is crucial. UN supports the Egyptian government's efforts to achieve SDGs through creating partnerships between public and private sectors in the fields of human capital investments such as education, health, and social protection, Dictus said. Dictus presented the UN plan for achieving SDGs which focuses on four main pillars, namely comprehensive economic development, social justice, women empowerment, and sustainable management for natural resources. The UN will be paying special attention to investment with development effects, increasing youth and women's access to jobs, expanding micro, small, and medium enterprises, and supporting social protection services. There is a meeting scheduled for March in the presence of development partners and local entities to follow up achieving SDGs while the other meetings aim at evaluating what was accomplished in the strategic partnership framework from 2018 to 2022.
