Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat has said that Egypt is harnessing the power of its private sector to drive gender equality.
The minister’s comments came as she arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on Wednesday, to attend the fourth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
The conference aims to curate a rich and global conversation on future policies that will help mobilise resources and collaboration for a resilient recovery from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Over 140 private sector leaders, policy makers, investors, and other stakeholders, are participating both virtually and physically to express support for multilateralism. During the conference, they will also present relevant policy recommendations to ensure effective and productive collaboration within public-private investment mechanisms.
The FII Institute will host the conference on 27-28 January at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center (KAICC) in Riyadh. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund and Chairperson of the FII’s Board of Directors, will be opening the multi-hub conference.
This year’s event falls under the theme “The Neo-Renaissance”, to reimagine the global economy alongside the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference will bring about inclusive and productive dialogue on the powerful role of the private sector in making gender equality a reality, where Minister Al-Mashat will be participating in two sessions.
The first is entitled “How to Strengthen Partnerships to Reflect the Prevailing Geopolitical Reality”, with the second entitled “Business Community Solutions to Empower Women and Achieve Gender Equality”.
Using the power of the private sector to deliver on gender equality, the Egyptian minister highlighted that this conference will act as a main catalyst to developing meaningful collaborations. These will seek to mobilise resources and the exchange of innovative ideas.
In July 2020, the Ministry of International Cooperation, together with the World Economic Forum and Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW), launched the “Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator”.
The initiative is the first of its kind public-private collaboration model in both Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It aims to help governments and businesses take decisive action to close economic gender gaps, and increase women’s participation in the labour force.
It also looks to close gender gaps, advance women into leadership positions, and hardwire gender parity in the future of work.
The Ministry of International Cooperation’s portfolio includes around 34 projects worth $3.3bn, which are being executed to achieve the targets of gender equality. The top targeted sectors include: Health, which will receive 20% of funding; Education (14%); and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (15%).
