Planning Minister Praises UN report on Egypt’s support to women against COVID-19

CAIRO – 9 October 2020: Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Hala El-Said applauded the results of the report issued by the United Nations Women’s Organization (UN WOMEN) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the measures taken by countries to support women during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Egypt ranked first in the Middle East region in terms of the number of measures taken to support women in the face of the Corona pandemic, which amounted to 21 measures, the highest number in the region, according to the report that included the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan.

“Some 63 per cent of all gender-sensitive measures in Northern Africa and Western Asia focus on preventing and/or responding to violence against women and girls. Most of these measures have been taken in Western Asia. In Northern Africa, the countries that have taken such measures are Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia,” said the report issued on September 28.

El-Said stressed that Egypt's ranking in the first place in this report is an achievement within the framework of reaching the sustainable development goals, and as a positive result of the state's efforts towards women, stressing that women are featured in the national agenda for sustainable development. Egypt Vision 2030 receives ample attention to empower it at all levels.

She continued that the state is moving positively towards achieving the goals of Egypt Vision 2030 and the UN goals for sustainable development, stressing that the political leadership places support and empowerment of women at the top of the priorities.

El-Said noted that talking about the economic empowerment of women has become an economic necessity to maximize the use of productive and creative energies.

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development pointed out that the status of women today and the gains they have achieved are the most prominent evidence of progress and the extent of the state’s awareness of the importance of women as a strong agent for achieving positive change.

“The tracker records 38 measures taken by Egypt in response to COVID-19. Of these measures, 21 have been coded as gender-sensitive. This includes seven measures targeting women’s economic security, three measures addressing unpaid care work, and 11 measures responding to violence against women,” the report said.

“To support women’s economic security during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) is planning to add 60,000 families to Takaful and Karama cash transfer programmes, increasing its budget from EGP 18.5 billion to EGP 19.3 billion (USD 1.75 billion to 1.22 billion) and reaching a total of 3.6 million households by 2021 (including around 16 million beneficiaries). These programmes mainly target women heads-of-households,” it continued.

“Some 200,000 households (approximately 1 million beneficiaries) will receive a cash payment of EGP 450–500 (USD 28.5–32) for three months in addition to potential in-kind benefits, with priority given to older persons, orphans, persons with disabilities and femaleheaded households. In-kind support in the form of food and pourtly is being targeted towards widows, female heads-of- households, the elderly and people with disabilities, provided by the Tahya Masr Fund in collaboration with MoSS and the Ministry of Local Development.”

“Women (NCW) has connected with women from different governorates to produce masks that can be sold to the public,” it said.

“Only two countries in the region (Egypt and Palestine) have taken measures to improve the collection and use of violence against women data in the COVID-19 context,” the report says.

“In Egypt, the Ministry of Social Solidarity is planning to add 60,000 families to the Takaful and Karama cash-transfer programmes, with another 100,000 households to be added in the budget for the 2021 fiscal year. Among others, the programmes mainly target women heads-of-households (see In Focus section below),” the report continued.

Egyptian President of the National Council for Women (NCW) Maya Morsi expressed her deep pride and happiness for the UN commendation for Egypt’s efforts in supporting women during the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.