According to UNDP Egypt, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) Mourad Wahba concluded his three-day visit to Egypt after meeting with the foreign affairs; investment and international cooperation; social solidarity; and planning, monitoring, and administrative reform ministers. The meeting was also attended by members of the “National Council for Women, Local Development, and Environment” and the secretary-general of the Arab League.
In his meetings, Wahba discussed support to Egypt’s development agenda and regional cooperation.
Wahba’s visit engagements began at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he met with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry.
Wahba praised Egypt’s positive steps to achieve sustainable development and its launch of mega projects in addition to progress on women’s agendas.
On another note, Wahba discussed the preparations to hold the first international conference on the implementation of the sustainable development strategy of Egypt Vision 2030 with Minister of Planning, Monitoring, and Administrative Reform Hala El-Said.
Wahba also met with Maya Morsy, president of the National Council for Women, where discussions took place regarding the official global launch of the “Taa Marbuta” campaign for women’s empowerment, which coincides with the Year of Egyptian Women celebration, announced by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi last year.
Concerning social protection, Wahba was hosted by Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly, where they discussed social protection projects and the “Takaful w Karama” (Diginity and Solidarity) programme, which supports thousands of Egyptians.
During his short visit, Wahba also met with Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmy to discuss a joint cooperation and the preparations to host the 14th Conference of Parties meeting for the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP14), planned to be hosted in Egypt in 2018. This is the first time since 2000 for an African country to host this important conference.
In the meeting with Hisham El-Sherif, Minister of Local Development, Wahba welcomed the potential cooperation between the ministry and UNDP to boost social and economic development in the various governorates.
Wahba had another important engagement with the secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abou El-Gheit. Wahba confirmed his eagerness to support the Arab League, especially in areas of crisis prevention and the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr congratulated Wahba for his appointment and stressed in their meeting the importance of the joint cooperation and the consultations to prepare the new UNDP country programme document, which will be implemented in the next five years (2018-2022).
The visit confirms the fruitful and effective cooperation between the Egyptian government and UNDP to achieve Egypt’s national priorities, as well as the sustainable development strategy of the Egypt Vision 2030.
The secretary-general appointed Wahba last February as the UNDP regional director for Arab states.
