CAIRO, March 19 (MENA) - UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Richard Dictus said Minister of Investment and International Co-operation Sahar Nasr has launched a new chapter in the rich United Nations history in Egypt, noting that all 19 UN agencies with operational activities in the country signed a new United Nations Partnership Development Framework (UNPDF) detailing their partnership with Egypt over the next five years. In an op-ed distributed by the UN office in Cairo, Dictus said "UNPDF entails a total resource envelope of $1.2 billion and builds on the capacities of the UN development system, that reached in 2015/16 nearly 33 million Egyptians through various projects and partnerships with Government and civil society." "In 2015, when I attended the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA), I witnessed world leaders reach a landmark agreement to save the planet and humanity itself, through establishing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Little did I know at the time that two years later, I would work with one of the most pre-eminent emerging economies in the world to give shape to its sustainable development pathway." he added. "UNESCO opened the first UN office in Egypt in 1948, immediately followed by the UN Information Center, which has occupied the same office in Garden City since 1949. Meanwhile, all development agencies of the UN have set up offices in Cairo, including some 10 regional offices, making Egypt one of the UN's global hubs. Egypt, as a founding member of the UN, is a five-time elected member of the UN Security Council. Egypt has been part of the negotiations that gave rise to the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Right." Dictus also said :"Egypt is one of the countries that gave shape to UN peacekeeping and contributed over 30,000 personnel in 37 missions across the world. UN Secretary General (UNSG), H.E. Boutros Boutros-Ghali is still much revered amongst UN staff and Egypt has over the years provided chief executives for several UN organisations, including IAEA and UNEP. Egypt is a country that has contributed to forming the UN and that continues to play a major role in the intergovernmental debate as the Chair of the G77 and a proactive member of the Human Rights Council." "By adopting the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030 (SDS) in early 2016, Egypt is committed to operationalising the SDGs. Based on the initial successes of the SDS, it is expected that the process will unfold with an emphasis on economic expansion and increasing employment, integrated development solutions, behavioral adaptability to the idea of sustainability, and innovation. Moreover, it will focus on the reduction of inequities in society, especially with its emphasis on the impetus of the 2030 Agenda, leaving no one behind. It is now the time for a ripened partnership that makes use of the knowledge, expertise and experience of the UN combined to give shape to a much more sustainable future for Egypt, as one of the global leaders in SDGs. " the UN coordinator noted. In 2016, Egypt was one of the first countries to present its SDG situation analysis at the High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development at the UN in New York. This serves as a cutting-edge basis for the discussions that have been conducted since. Egypt presented a clear situation analysis that outlines past achievements, opportunities but also challenges to success. In 2018, Egypt is poised to provide its second update to the world community at the UNGA in New York.
