Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met, on Sunday, with the United Nations’ (UN) Resident Coordinator to Egypt Richard Dictus, to push forward with the UN’s Partnership Development Framework (UNPDF).
During the meeting, the two sides also discussed ways of streamlining the way forward to ensure Egypt’s sustainable future in a coherent and consistent manner.
Al-Mashat congratulated Dictus for the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) winning of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. She also referred to Egypt’s collaborative work conducted this year with the WFP, in celebration of the UN’s 75th Anniversary, notably through the documentary film Beyond Food and the recent field visit to Upper Egypt.
For his part, Dictus commended the ministry’s efforts in shifting mindsets regarding effective development cooperation, through the principles of economic diplomacy.
These principles include regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated. It has also taken on board the adoption of a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative through People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P). At the same time, the Ministry of International Cooperation has been involved in mapping ODA financing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
The meeting included discussions on the UNPDF’s status and progress, as well as methods for pushing it forward in a coherent, consistent and comprehensive manner. The framework focuses on social inclusiveness, job creation, and restoring livelihoods through supporting micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) to achieve a green economy.
The discussion included the Ministry of International Cooperation’s ODA-SDG Financing Framework, which also, for the first time, takes on board all UN projects. The two sides reviewed an extensive exercise conducted by the ministry to map out the projects being carried out under the SDGs to ensure aid effectiveness, and includes the contribution of the Development Partners Group (DPG).
Earlier in October, Minister Al-Mashat held a high level meeting with UN agencies present in Egypt, and declared the years 2020-2021 as the “Years of Multilateralism”. She also highlighted Egypt’s strategy to revive the spirit of multilateralism amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Ministry of International Cooperation supervises the implementation of the UNPDF, and chairs the Steering Committee for the framework with the UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt. This focuses on four outcomes: inclusive economic development; social justice; environmental sustainability and natural resource management; and women’s empowerment.
