Minister displays achievements of Egypt's National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development in 2020

CAIRO - 6 January 2021: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development issued recently a report reviewing the most prominent achievements of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), the training arm of the ministry, during the year 2020.

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of (NIGSD) said that the active and distinguished role that the institute plays comes in light of implementing the sustainable development agenda “Egypt Vision 2030”, and in strengthening the state’s direction to expand investment in people.

El-Said added that NIGSD adopted a new approach based on expanding training partnerships with the most prestigious regional and international institutes working in this field.

“NIGSD was keen to take the initiative to develop the services it provides by taking advantage of technological progress and keeping pace with the latest management methods and sciences, in a way that meets the Egyptian needs of human cadres necessary for the development process,” she explained.

For her part, Dr. Sherifa Al-Sharif, Executive Director of NIGSD, said that the vision of the institute is to support, strengthen, and develop systems of good governance to achieve competitiveness and sustainable development.

Al-Sharif stressed the institute’s keenness to implement its mission of strengthening and developing Egypt's position in the field of governance and sustainable development through the provision of consultations, research, and training programs that seek and emphasize spreading the culture, values​​, and practices of sustainability.

On the achievements of NIGSD during the year 2020, the report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development indicated that the institute launched the "Distance Learning" initiative to provide training programs via the Internet. The institute launched 50 interactive training programs through the electronic platform for distance education.

These training programs have been prepared in cooperation with UN Women, Missouri State University in the United States of America, and the Hans Seidel Foundation, in addition to launching a digital education platform that provides opportunities for learning and interactive training in development and capacity building by offering a range of training programs in the field of governance and sustainable development.

The report pointed to the launch of the "Be an Ambassador" initiative, in cooperation between the Ministry and the Institute, in which the number of applicants reached 7116 young people representing the various governorates of Egypt. This initiative aims mainly to spread the culture of sustainable development and to qualify young people to apply the foundations of sustainable development in various product and service activities and areas.

The report added that the Institute’s achievements during the year 2020 at the training level included the launch of the Executive Leadership Program for African Women, the holding of remote workshops for graduates of the “Leadership for Government Excellence” program, in addition to the launch of the fourth and final phase of the “Government Leadership Development” program.

The year 2020 also witnessed the institute holding a webinar entitled "African women in the face of the social and economic impacts of the Coronavirus", as part of a series of interactive distance learning seminars and a continuation of the Institute's training efforts that it provides to brothers on the African continent through the training network of management institutes in Africa (development).

The report pointed out that the year 2020 witnessed the Institute's contact with many international institutions to discuss aspects of future cooperation, including the French University in Egypt and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development to implement the project "Strengthening Egyptian government institutes to improve public service", which aims to enhance the capabilities of the Institute and enhance excellence Administrative, good governance and improving public service for Egyptian citizens.

The report indicated that the Institute agreed with the State of Chile to allocate several scholarships to Egypt at the University of Chile, which will be implemented in cooperation with the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Industrial Engineering at the University of Chile.

The report referred to the Institute's participation in discussing the process of preparing the National Governance Report for the Republic of Kenya, as the Institute participated in a meeting organized by the Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism to discuss the start of Kenya's process of preparing a national report on governance, in line with the decision of the African Union summit that included inviting member states to prepare national reports.

About the cooperation protocols, the report indicated that the year 2020 witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, a grant of LE 4 million to the Institute, and the signing of a cooperation agreement in the field of rehabilitation, development of human capabilities with the National Academy for Combating Corruption.

In addition to signing a protocol on cooperation in the fields of training, governance and sustainable development with the National Institute for Political Studies of Japan, signing of a memorandum of cooperation with the United Nations Women and the National Council for Women regarding offering several exercises to raise the efficiency of women.

2020 witnessed also the signing of a cooperation protocol with the Egyptian Red Crescent Society regarding cooperation in the fields of training, qualification, and vocational guidance, and a protocol of cooperation was signed with the advisors club of the Administrative Prosecution Authority in the field of rehabilitation, development of human capabilities.

In addition to the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Gemini Enterprise Africa in the field of Supporting the building and development of human capabilities and entrepreneurship, as well as a twinning agreement, was signed with the German Hertie Institute for Governance in Berlin, which will help improve institutional frameworks, enhance cooperation across sectors and levels, acquire technical and organizational skills, and provide advisory services.