The National Council for Women has hosted a dialogue in cooperation with the Egypt Peace Lovers Association and Dar Al-Shorouk. The event witnessed the participation of Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said and Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, the representative of Dar Al-Shorouk Amira Abu Al-Majd, and Samia Iskandar Spencer who edited the book “Daughters of the Nile: Egyptian Women Changing Their World”.
Role models
The dialogue comes on the occasion of the release of the Arabic version of “Daughters of the Nile: Egyptian Women Changing Their World”, which tells the stories of prominent Egyptian women.
Spencer asked some prominent Egyptian women to write about their upbringings, struggles, and achievements. The author wanted to dispel the myth that Egyptian women are uneducated and under the sway of men. She also wanted to present role models for younger generations of both men and women in Egypt and abroad, encouraging them to pursue their dreams despite any obstacles they may encounter.
The book includes the biographies of 38 Egyptian women, the eldest of whom was a late-nineties woman whose granddaughter helped her write about her life in the book, and the youngest participant was in her late twenties. The large age difference aims to reflect the changes that took place in Egypt since the middle of the 20th century.
National Council for Women
The National Council for Women’s (NCW) President Maya Morsi expressed her joy to meet the “daughters of the Nile” in the home of Egyptian women. She thanked Spencer for her significant contribution to the publication of this eminent book, which will inspire future generations.
Morsi explained that the book includes 38 successful female models, of whom the Egyptians are proud because of their achievements in life.
The book was published in English in 2017, which was declared as the year of the Egyptian woman by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. According to Morsi, from 2017 to 2023, women made significant advancements thanks to the political will that was strong enough to believe in women’s capabilities. She emphasised that limits were broken and doors were open to allow women to take leadership more than ever.
Morsi expressed her thanks to El-Said and Al-Mashat for their participation in the event, noting that they are a source of inspiration for many women.
Egyptian version
Morsi asked Spencer to come up with a new version of the book to be distributed in Egyptian schools and universities.
El-Said expressed her pride in being one of the models included in the book Daughters of the Nile, which is a unique, fruitful and inspiring experience for a series and a group of books, stressing that Egypt has thousands of inspirations in all fields in Egypt and the Arab world, adding that the book brings together many of the distinguished women and aims to change the stereotyped image of Egyptian women, stressing our need to shed light on new generations of successful models of inspiring women.
The Minister stressed that women are required to achieve the difficult equation, which is the balance between success in her work and her family, and therefore she needs support from family, work, friends and the surrounding environment so that she has the ability to succeed and make a difference in public work, stressing the importance of education, training, patience and perseverance because they are the basis for reaching any goal and achieving success, stressing that the greater the ability to choose, the more it helps us achieve success.
Al-Mashat confirmed that the book “Daughters of the Nile” is a source of inspiration for many women. She also referred to her chapter in the book, which explains the importance of the international framework in public work. Public work is inspired by international relations to put various experiences into practice, stressing that the voice of Egypt is very important on the international scene, and the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 is one of the most important strategies cited in working with various organizations.
The Minister concluded her speech by thanking everyone who influenced her path, stressing her constant endeavour to influence the path of youth leaders.
Moreover, Spencer expressed her happiness at being present at the National Council for Women to celebrate 38 successful Egyptian women, noting that Egypt is full of distinguished women, and that the book represents a small percentage of them, noting that the aim of the book is to convey the correct image of Egyptian women abroad and to Western media, Who portrayed Egyptian women incorrectly, and thanked everyone who supported her in this project, and to the daughters of the Nile who attended this meeting.
She stressed that while honouring today a small number of the daughters of the Nile who are thoughtful and Egyptian pioneers, Egypt does not forget to celebrate the previous generations of women who worked to achieve full rights and equality for the daughters of the Nile, such as Hoda Shaarawy and Doria Shafik.
Amira Abul-Majd discussed the diversity that characterized the book “Banat al-Nil” in terms of personalities and circumstances in addition to Egypt’s social history, stressing that the book aims to change the stereotyped image of oriental women, and recounts the success stories of Egyptian women and their steadfastness during challenges and their ability to succeed and overcome failure, noting that Dar Al-Shorouk seeks to introduce children to the positive models that exist in Egypt.
