CAIRO: Standing on the bank of the Nile, against a background of three buffeting felucca sails, Hisham El-Rouby, chairman of the Youth Association for Population and Development, told a story of a young boy who needed his trousers shortened.
It was an anecdote that amused press and UN members alike, telling of a boy who asks his mother, sister and father to shorten his pants. All are busy, but promise to fulfill his request once they have completed their chores. Needless to say, the boy ends up with very short pants.
Told at the launch of “Sailing the Nile for the Millennium Development Goals, El-Rouby was not saying that Egyptians needed to hone their tailoring skills. The message, although delivered through metaphor, was clear: Egypt’s many NGOs can achieve success in fighting poverty if they work on a basis of cooperation and coordination.
But it was not just NGOs that came together to mark the seventh year of the pledge to end poverty. In the first of its kind in Egypt, private companies also played a part by way of sponsorship through the Corporate Social Responsibility scheme, offering funding for humanitarian causes on a pro bono basis.
Vodafone is among the companies sponsoring the campaign. It is also the sponsor of the SOS live music festival, a phenomenon relatively new to Egypt that has taken the youth population by storm. The last concert alone drew a massive 17,000 people.
“The music festival was initiated by Egyptian youth to save their music industry from suffocation by manufactured pop. It gives young underground bands the chance to perform. Under one condition: That they are original, Reem Moneim, the program organizer, told Daily News Egypt.
On Oct. 17, Vodafone and the SOS group went a step further. It was a music festival with a twist, testimony to the fact that “the charity concert has reached Egypt. As bands including Bashir rocked the set until late evening, it was clear that the skepticism that questions the validity of concerts by the wealthy in the name of the poor could not be applied to Egypt. Set in the Gezira gardens, in the midst of workshops and lectures, the message was not to be lost on Egypt. The slogan “let’s end poverty meant just that, and was felt by the thousands who attended.
As well as raising awareness for the campaign, the performance genre – self-made music – conveyed the message that El-Rouby was eager that all who attended would take home. “I personally believe in volunteerism and I campaign for volunteerism in Egypt. We want to shift the balance from charity to development volunteers. That means young people giving up their time to offer their talents, but in the process they have the opportunity to develop them. In Cairo alone, there are 40,000 people under the age of 25. If everyone gave one hour a week and say we were to translate that one hour into one pound, we could save LE 40,000 in just one week.
Raising awareness among young people was just one facet to the day’s events. After the music has ended and the white marquees packed away, Egypt’s NGOs will continue the battle against poverty, disease, malnutrition and ignorance in an attempt to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The “Sailing the Nile campaign has been coordinated by bringing together all NGOs in Egypt with the UN to highlight what can be done when individual organizations act as one.
“NGOs work at the grass-roots base of society, they provide a bridge between the local communities and the UN, said Sara Edil Rifaat, the project coordinator of the UN volunteers’ Madrasty project, which has so far renovated 137 schools in underprivileged areas of Egypt.
Tucked away on the upper level of the gardens, medical students Raghad and Hedaya gave a workshop encouraging people to get involved in civil society, while on the press front, two of Egypt’s most prestigious film stars took center stage to add their words.
Youssra and Mahmoud Yassin, the UN goodwill ambassadors for Egypt, urged the government and civil society to end the scourge of poverty. “Poverty takes away the chance for men to lead dignified lives, said Youssra, who also made an appearance at the El Sawy Culture Wheel later that evening to read the “Stand up pledge.
Set in the luxurious surroundings of Zamalek, there was worry that the real issues of the campaign might be forgotten after such a high-profile launch. The poverty that haunts Egyptian society, causing misery to thousands, cannot be underestimated. In a recent report, figures showed that child mortality rates in Egypt, although less than a decade ago, had failed to reach international standards. This is also the case with regards to employment figures, where Egypt has failed to reach an internationally set target.
In an interview with Daily News Egypt, UN Coordinator James Rawley expressed his concern.
“We are all seized by the figures, as it seems that Egypt’s high economic growth does not translate to its employment figures. There seems to be a lag, but I’m confident that Egypt can accelerate in the next couple of years. In terms of the location, well, today we are concentrating on Zamalek but the feluccas will stop at eight points in Upper Egypt, all with high poverty rates.
On the International Day to End Poverty, and half way through the period set for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, Egypt was standing up to be counted as a country active in fighting poverty. But, more importantly, a country of individuals, where individual commitment is valued as part of a cohesive civil society.
