Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, highlighted Egypt’s success in implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which stood at 50%, the highest rate in the region.
Egypt’s success in implementing the SDGs was outlined in a report by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
“We continue our efforts to progress towards the SDGs and telling our story through People&Projects&Purpose,” Minister Al-Mashat stated, “Egypt’s commitment to drive meaningful progress continues in this decade of action to achieving the SDGs.”
The report was developed by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), in collaboration with UNICEF and the UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Richard Dictus. It uses visualisations for a quicker grasp of data, as well as proxy local indicators to identify data gaps and reflect the national development priorities.
The Ministry of International Cooperation conducted a comprehensive mapping exercise of all current effective projects to identify their alignment with the relevant goals. The mapping was conducted to facilitate national and international reporting on the SDGs, and ensure the optimal contribution of development cooperation projects to them.
This makes Egypt one of the few countries to conduct the mapping exercise with a cooperation portfolio amounting to $25bn, according to Minister Al-Mashat.
Through the Ministry of International Cooperation, there are currently over 300 projects occurring with various development partners across multiple sectors. This includes in education, transportation, water desalination, renewable energy, entrepreneurship, and women’s empowerment, among others, that are in line with the 17 SDGs.
With an aim to transparently showcase all projects and their impact on the communities, the ministry launched the ‘Global Partnerships Narrative’. This represents the third pillar of economic diplomacy, put in place to achieve the SDGs, and which is focused on three pillars: people at the core, projects in action and purpose as the driver.
This is to mobilise and strengthen Egypt’s inclusive multilateral engagement with development partners, governments, private sector and the civil society to effectively deliver the SDGs and create a circular economy.
The Ministry of International Cooperation supervises the implementation of the UN’s Partnership Development Framework (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.
