Senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official tours UN projects in Upper Egypt

"There is nothing more valuable than projects that meet the actual needs and problems of ordinary people", the MFA official said.

Cairo, June 28, 2006: Development projects supported by the United Nations were the focus of a recent visit to Qena governorate in Upper Egypt by Ayman Zaineldine, Deputy Assistant Minister for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Accompanied by Dr. Erma Manoncourt, Acting UN Resident Coordinator and UNICEF Representative, Mr. Zaineldine’s visit began at the office of the Governor of Qena, Mr. Magdy Ayub Iskandar, who expressed his appreciation for the work of UN agencies in his governorate.

The first project visited was the New Qena Primary School, part of the SMART school pilot programme being implemented by the UN Development Programme in 50 schools throughout Egypt. The project aims to increase computer literacy and skills among school children by means of an information and communications technology) learning package.

SMART School manager, Ismail Mohamed, said that in the past four years, the pass rate among pupils had risen from 23% to 98%. “The SMART schools programme has given children the chance to learn in new ways and acts as an incentive to them to improve their education,” he said.

Next, visits were made to two schools in Farshout district (El Shaheed Fathi Selim Abu Zeid, and Kobaiba Elementary School) where Mr. Zaineldine was shown improvements made to water and sanitation facilities as a result of a UNICEF-sponsored project covering 36 schools in Farshout. Parents and teachers from the school’s board of trustees spoke approvingly of the impact the sanitation project had had, not only on the school but on the community as a whole.

One parent said that since the sanitation project began, his seven-year old daughter had begun taking more care of her personal hygiene and was helping out at home with cleaning and other chores.

“FGM/C is the reason for so many problems between husbands and wives in Egypt. I have two daughters, aged 1 and 5, and I wouldn’t dream of circumcising them." said one of the participants

The final stop of the one-day visit was in Kobaiba village where Mr. Zaineldine and Dr. Manoncourt took part in an enthusiastic discussion about FGM/C with local people. Villagers – male and female – gave their views as to why they thought FGM/C is still practiced in Egypt, referring to the power of tradition and deep-rooted religious beliefs.

“(FGM/C) is an old way of thinking,” said one woman. “We want to stop it completely.”

One man – now working with the UNICEF-supported project as a “positive deviant”, helping persuade others in his community to abandon FGM/C – said: “FGM/C is the reason for so many problems between husbands and wives in Egypt. I have two daughters, aged 1 and 5, and I wouldn’t dream of circumcising them.”

Speaking at the end of his visit, Mr. Zaineldine expressed appreciation for the UN’s development role in southern Egypt.

"There is nothing more valuable than projects that meet the actual needs and problems of ordinary people", the MFA official said. “The more a project is a response to the genuine needs of the local communities, the more it will be embraced by them, and the more successful in achieving its goals will it be. This is what ownership is all about.”

Digital photographs will be available upon request

For more information please contact:
Simon Ingram
Communication Officer
UNICEF Egypt
Tel: 526-5083 thru 9 x 210/208
singram@unicef.org

John Apruzzese
Head of Coordination Unit
United Nations Development Programme
Tel: 578-4840
john.apruzzese@undp.org