May. 8th, 2002

Statement by :
H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak
Head of the Delegation of
The Arab Republic of Egypt

    Chairperson: Madame Nan Annan

    Ladies and Gentlemen

    Girls Education is a pertinent reality within our daily lives, yet it still represents itself in some regions as an unfulfilled need despite the universal recognition of its value to developing our societies.

    I believe we all view Girls Empowerment as a prerequisite to their future role as women leaders, as mothers, professionals and active members of our societies. A girl's potential lies in her inherent capacity to lead, to foster values and ethics and to promote tolerance and peace.

    I am pleased to note the global attention that is being mobilized to girl's education, and proud to have been part of global and regional processes leading to this promising momentum.

    Expressing the achievement of gender equality in education by 2015 as one of the Millenium Development Targets that was embodied in the Dakar Framework for Action two years ago, is perhaps the most visible trigger of global action to this end.

    And indeed the 10-year UN Girl's Education Initiative announced by the UN Secretary General echoes this global commitment and offers a unique opportunity for regional, sub-regional and bilateral partnerships to address this daunting developmental challenge.

    It is my honor to share with you the story of a promising and highly rewarding initiative that we are implementing in Egypt.

    Egypt has become a flagship country on girl's education. We came to the realization of the significance of this Investment of Development even before the UN Ten Year Girl's education Initiative was launched. In the beginning of the nineties, education was declared as the national project, doubling allocated investments several folds.

    We scored great progress in enrollment and have managed to narrow the gender gap in recent years. However some pockets of resistance remained in conservative and deprived areas.

    Our national agenda parallels the global commitment in a number of ways. On the one hand, policies and reforms are underway to ensure that educational systems are harmonized with the demands of the changing structure of our economy. On the other, new concepts capturing the advancement within the information and communication sector and basic life skills are being introduced at all levels of education.

    Immediately after EFA Dakar conference, Egypt adopted the Girl's Education initiative, aiming at eliminating gender disparities by 2005, relying on an integrated vision and a non- conventional approach that aims at capacity development, resource mobilization within communities and an effectively coordinated alliance with line ministries, non-governmental organizations, international partners and the girls themselves.

    We also focused on developing a clear understanding of the varying economic and sociocultural conditions that influence girl's, enrollment in schools within the different localities; a step that was critical to our planning process throughout the initiative.

    At this stage, it was important to equip the local task forces, ( enriched with heavy component of NGO's, ) with the skill and knowledge that was required to deliver their outputs. The pedagogical training package that was extended to these teams was indeed a cost-effective means to develop their capacities and ensure the soundness of the local planning processes.

    This step represents an important input to the sustainability and ownership of the initiative by its beneficiaries. More so, it is one of many tools that we rely upon to empower the underprivileged. A national task force including 15 line ministries and concerned institutions has been set up and a two-way communication process is in place to ensure a constructive dialogue and support to local action plans through policy guidance, resource mobilization, and the integration of girl's education plan of action in the 5-year National Plan of Social and Economic Development Plan of Egypt.

    The initiative promises to offer a number of opportunities for innovative quality education, the promotion of practical life skills and subsequently paving the way for girls to contribute proactively in the development of their communities. It took off from our successful experience of the community schools and the one-classroom schools. These innovative types of schools are a testimony to the very high importance girls were endowed with, since the beginning of the nineties.

    The two initiatives are also clear evidence to the twin strategy adopted by Egypt of reaching the hard to reach and presenting a model of quality learning. Together those two initiatives have reached 60,000 children, mostly girls in the most remote and deprived areas.

    Evaluations have shown that all the elements of sustainability, completion, girl friendliness and qualities are in place.

    We are not simply relying on printed material as a single tool to deliver knowledge. Instead, we are looking at a variety of communication techniques taking advantage of the advances in the information and communication technology sector and capturing the concepts that would influence the quality of life for girls today and tomorrow.

    Creating a girl-friendly environment within schools expressed itself as a common denominator to the success of planned interventions and indeed founding local ownership of the initiative maintains its unique spirit over the years. I take the opportunity of this forum to extend a note of thanks and appreciation to those girls who have participated in this normal initiative. For without them I would not have had a story to tell.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    The right to education is the right to choose and in a globalizing world, choice is a reality in everything we do. The commitment that we are expressing to girl's education stems from an overall commitment to sustainable human development and a conviction that investments made to this purpose are highly rewarding.

    We may be challenged at present by poverty that is striking the world all over as an impact of globalizing forces and the global transformation that we are part of. We are challenged by the lack of awareness among parents and discriminatory patterns of behaviour that are exercised by some communities against girls.

    Yet the first steps have already been taken toward addressing this multi-dimensional problem and the milestones that have been realized to date will fail neither your expectations nor ours. The process has been exemplary in democratizing and decentralizing planning, whilst building new partnerships between communities, the private Sector, NGOs and the government. The approach is quite innovative in that girl's education is no longer the exclusive business of the Ministry of Education.

    Ladies and Gentlemen:

    As we work together to create the conducive environment for educating our girls and empowering them as moderators and leaders of development within their homes, their communities and the world beyond, I wish to express my acknowledgement to our partners in the international community for their valuable assistance. It is my sincere hope that the Girl's, Education Initiative triggers further momentum toward reducing girl's, vulnerability and promoting, in their support, a culture of justice, tolerance and respect. In the meantime, I shall be looking forward to sharing the progress of the experience and more importantly the lessons derived from its implementation.