Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, has launched a high-level national consultative meeting on the strategic partnership framework with the United Nations for 2023-2027. The meeting was attended by Mohamed Abdel-Aty, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation; Khaled Al-Anani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities; Ali Al-Moselhi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade; Tarek Shawky, Minister of Education; Mahmoud Shaarawy, Minister of Local Development; Ashraf Sobhy, Minister Youth and Sports; Nevin Al-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity; Maya Morsi, President of the National Council for Women; Moushira Khattab, President of the National Council for Human Rights; Yehia Zaki, President of the Suez Canal Economic Zone; Hussein Mansour, Chairperson of the National Authority for Food Safety; and Jihan Fouad, President of the National Institute of Nutrition. Since mid-2021, the Ministry of International Cooperation organized a number of national consultative meetings with the participation of the United Nations team to integrate the priorities of development partners with Egypt's national vision, taking into account the national strategies that have been recently launched, such as the National strategy for Human Rights and the "Decent Life" initiative. Through a long process of national consultations, the Minister of International Cooperation's high-level national consultative meeting marks the conclusion of the consultations stage, which will be followed by the implementation stage which includes getting the approval of the House of Representatives, forming work groups, and developing financing plans before reaching the final version of the strategic partnership framework with the United Nations. On behalf of the government, the Ministry of International launched in May 2021 the national consultation process, which included about 30 national bodies from ministries, along with the United Nations office and 28 United Nations agencies and programs in Egypt, in order to monitor and identify the strategic and sectoral development priorities of the Egyptian state. The strategic partnership framework aligns with the national vision to achieve sustainable development through 5 main priorities: 1) Investment in human capital, 2) Sustainable and inclusive economic development, 3) Efficient natural resource management and environmental sustainability, 4) Governance, and 5) women empowerment. The Minister referred to the meetings that took place with the United Nations, and the selection of the international consultant, Antonio Vigilante, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative, to coordinate on the presidential initiative "Decent Life". The Minister added that the ministry is working on designing future strategies with a number of development partners, including the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank, and there is continuous coordination with all ministries and relevant authorities to take into account all development priorities for all sectors. During the meeting, the Minister of International Cooperation also presented a film about the results of the Ministry's annual report for 2021, "Engaging for Impact Towards Our Common Future" to highlight Egypt's country-led engagement framework with all ministries and development partners. The Ministry of International Cooperation and the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt jointly chair the Steering Committee of the strategic partnership framework, which is responsible for supervising the implementation of this strategic framework with the UN.
