Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat received on Tuesday the Most Visionary and Outstanding Minister of International Cooperation of 2022 in Africa Award. The award was presented by the George Washington University Institute of African Studies and the GE7 Initiative in the Visionary Leaders Annual Summit in Washington D.C. This is in line with the second US-Africa Leaders Summit that was hosted by the US in the presence of the US president and African heads of state. The award was presented by Director of George Washington University Institute of African Studies Jennifer Cooke in the presence of Founder of the GE7 Initiative Amy Sarr Fall, along with various international governmental and financial officials. The ceremony began with a presentation of a short documentary film about the minister's efforts and contributions to strengthening international cooperation and advancing sustainable development efforts. Al-Mashat was awarded for her efforts in advancing international cooperation in 2022 and the minister's pivotal role in reformulating the mechanisms of international cooperation and development financing to achieve Egypt's national objectives and ensure their consistency with the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs). It is also to commend Al-Mashat's commitment to launching innovative and practical initiatives to mobilise necessary financing and international support on climate issues and the green transformation on a global and local level at the 27th UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh. This was done especially through the launch of the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing and Egypt's Country Platform for the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE programme). During the ceremony, Al-Mashat thanked President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for his support and commitment to enhancing economic diplomacy and international cooperation efforts, as well as in consolidating relations on a global level to enhance progress towards development while also meeting Egypt's own national objectives. Since assuming the portfolio of the ministry, Al-Mashat initiated a practical and global framework for international cooperation and development financing through the pillars of economic diplomacy, all in line with the UN frameworks and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This is to enhance the effectiveness of international cooperation in stimulating development efforts between Egypt and all its multilateral and bilateral partners, supporting the national vision and its consistency with the 2030 UN SDGs. This framework has proven its effectiveness and flexibility in facing the successive economic and geopolitical challenges and in addressing the most important contemporary and climate-related issues that require close cooperation and coordination between countries, IFIs, and relevant stakeholders. To that end, the ministry launched the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing at the COP27 and presented developments in moving from pledges to implementation through the NWFE programme. In the coming period, these initiatives will be on the agenda of priorities for cooperation with IFIs, including discussions on how to ensure knowledge sharing and transfer to other developing and emerging economies. It is worth noting that the George Washington University Institute of African Studies is a multidisciplinary centre in the Elliott School of International Affairs, connecting students and researchers who have interest in Africa. The GE7 Initiative is a global initiative that promotes the SDGs, discusses challenges that impedes them and economic growth, and promotes investment in human capital. The GE7 Visionary Leaders Annual Summit was held this year in Washington to honour influential African leaders one day before the US-Africa Leaders Summit.
