Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with the heads of three United Nations agencies in Geneva on Monday, discussing issues ranging from migration management to digital transformation and labour standards. His meetings included sessions with Amy Pope, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO); and Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
During his meeting with Pope, Abdelatty expressed Egypt’s appreciation for its longstanding cooperation with the IOM on comprehensive migration management and sustainable development, aligning with the Global Compact for Migration. He outlined Egypt’s holistic migration strategy, addressing both security and developmental aspects and focusing on the root causes of irregular migration. He highlighted Egypt’s concerns about the deteriorating political and humanitarian situations in neighbouring countries, exacerbated by conflict, political crises, and climate change, leading to increased displacement and migration flows into Egypt.
“Egypt hosts over 9 million migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers,” Minister Abdelatty noted, emphasising the strain on the national budget and host communities due to the inadequacy of international support. He reiterated Egypt’s call for intensified international efforts to ensure fair and sustainable burden-sharing and responsibility-sharing, urging the IOM to support Egypt in managing migrant influxes and bolstering its migration management efforts. He also reviewed Egypt’s ongoing efforts to combat irregular migration and human trafficking, in line with its national strategy, and discussed joint cooperation to support early recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip, reaffirming Egypt’s rejection of any attempts to displace Palestinians and underscoring UNRWA’s crucial mandate.
Minister Abdelatty’s meeting with Houngbo focused on Egypt’s development efforts and collaboration with the ILO. He commended the excellent cooperation between Egypt and the ILO, highlighting the Cairo office’s role in implementing various projects. He expressed Egypt’s desire to strengthen this cooperation to support employment, decent work, and improve the working environment, attracting investments and aligning with Egypt’s Vision 2030.
The minister reviewed positive developments in Egypt’s labour environment, including the establishment of over 50 new trade unions last year and efforts to finalise a draft law on domestic workers. He reiterated Egypt’s commitment to promoting international labour standards, citing the recent ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention and expressing a desire to utilise the ILO’s technical support in implementing its obligations.
Finally, Minister Abdelatty met with Bogdan-Martin, praising the longstanding relationship between Egypt and the ITU and the Cairo office’s role in implementing joint projects. He affirmed Egypt’s active participation in ITU mechanisms and activities, including its Council membership, and expressed a desire to expand cooperation in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and its digital strategy.
He reviewed Egypt’s efforts in implementing its digital strategy, including building a digital economy, developing digital infrastructure, and promoting digital transformation, as well as digitising government services and supporting technological innovation and entrepreneurship. He noted the government’s belief in the vital role of the information and communications technology sector in attracting investment and encouraging global companies to expand in Egypt. The meeting also addressed artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, with Minister Abdelatty expressing Egypt’s desire to cooperate with the ITU to maximise the benefits of AI applications and find innovative solutions to societal challenges. He highlighted the establishment of the National Council for Artificial Intelligence in 2019, the launch of the national AI strategy in 2021, and the forthcoming launch of its second version.
