Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat launched the second round of consultative meetings this week with other key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society organisations, development partners, think tanks, and academics to develop the UN's 2023-2027 Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. The meetings witnessed the participation of 36 multilateral and bilateral development partners, including the World Bank (WB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union (EU), 38 civil society organisations, 31 private sector institutions, as well as 20 representatives of academic and research organisations. Al-Mashat, noted that her ministry launched extensive consultations for the new development cooperation framework in May 2021, which included the participation of more than 30 national bodies and around 28 UN agencies. She added that "the participation of research and academic bodies is an important and main link not only in the chain of consultations, but at the level of implementation, maximising impact, and sustainability." Referring to the Decent Life Presidential Initiative, the minister emphasised the importance of the international community in promoting the principle of a decent life and benefiting from the Egyptian experience in reaching the most vulnerable groups in order to achieve integration and inclusion in development processes. With the aim of constructing a participatory dialogue on stakeholders' priorities — while also discussing how national priorities can be consolidated through future projects with the UN — the minister noted that a draft of the new strategy is expected to be finalised later this month, which will represent a blueprint for the partnership's new strategic framework that capitalises on the UN's comparative advantages in tackling developmental challenges through innovative solutions. For her part, Elena Panova — the UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt — said: "Participatory and inclusive stakeholder consultations are important milestones in developing the new UN 2023-2027 Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. Indeed, development stakeholders provided invaluable inputs and reflections on the catalytic development solutions the UN's development system in Egypt is offering through the new framework. The large participation was an acknowledgment of our collective efforts in supporting Egypt's development priorities with focus on vulnerable people who are at risk of being left behind."
