The 3rd session of Women Professionals Summit 2023 tackled the importance of Egyptian women’s roles at all levels in achieving the sustainable development goals, and ensuring that the economic, social, cultural and environmental systems are kept in balance. Hence, in order for women to achieve this target, they need to be equipped with skills, knowledge, and technical capabilities to grasp the available opportunities amid evolving digital evolution in all sectors. Further, the entrepreneurial ecosystem emerged in a way that would provide more equitable job opportunities that fit most of the Egyptian women’s living conditions.
Under the patronage of Egypt’s Prime Minister, the 2nd edition of Women Professionals Summit, under the slogan of “Empower Women To Empower Egypt” was inaugurated by Minister of Culture, Dr. Neveen Al-Kilany, and President of the National Council for Women, Dr. Maya Morsy.
The session entitled “Pillars of Success (Sustainability- Personal Skills- Career Progress)” hosted Dr. Amal Mowafy, Director of the Rowad 2030 Project, Dr. Ehab Shalaby, Chairman of DCarbon Egypt, and Dr. Rasha Kenawi, Leadership Corporate Trainer. The session was moderated by Shrouk Alaa Eldin, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Career 180.
At the same context, Dr. Amal Mowafy emphasized in the importance of forward- looking perspectives amid the global multi- sector evolution, which necessitated the capacity building for women in a way that bridges gender gap. She stated that women’s participation in Egypt’s labor market reached 25%, which is considered a minor ratio, in comparison with the global ones. She also highlighted the importance of providing suitable working environment for women to be capable to have a role at the market place, as well as achieving gender equity.
Dr. Amal also stated that the studies showed that ensuring gender equity in education and workforce, which will contribute to doubling the total GDP. She also highlighted the importance of gender equity nationwide, as well as empowering women in all sectors, as most of the awareness campaigns mainly focuses on Cairo. In this regard, she stated that Rowad 2030 project focuses on 3 dimensions to integrate public and private sectors with the youth in all the Egyptian governorates; as it qualifies the youth to get in tertiary education. She stated that 700 male and female students in 27 governorates enroll in this program annually to acquire high academic and language skills through 4 semesters to be able to gain competitive edge.
She also referred to the gap between academic education and the labor market, which requires providing leadership and entrepreneurship programs for the youth to harness capacity building. Dr. Amal gave an advice to women that failure wouldn’t be the end of the world, as they should be encouraged to experiment. She also indicated the need for career coaching for women to gain personal awareness about their skills and harness openness to other cultures. The program ensures joint collaboration between the public and private sectors in promoting sustainability and climate action.
On the other hand, Dr. Ehab Shalaby, DCarbon CEO, stated that the family is the main unit of success, as women in leadership are successful multitaskers, referring to the women’s essential roles in achieving economic growth, social development, and sustainability.
He stated that 48 out of 50 to 60 companies hire women to chair sustainable development committees. Later on, all the institutions became aware of the importance of sustainability in achieving economic growth.
He highlighted that training institutions and international companies have important roles in raising women’s knowledge and skills. He also stated that women would be less likely to repay distressed loans, as women are less risky to lend from banks.
Dr. Rasha Kenawi affirmed that the global leadership terminology needs to be upgraded to be more relevant to the difficulties facing various projects and companies at all levels of leadership, either upper, middle, or horizontal levels, referring that the leadership skills that vary between both genders. She stated that women are more cooperative, compassionate, and emotionally intelligent. Meanwhile, men are more capable to take risks and are comfortable in decision-making and being in a position of power. She also referred that adaptable leadership is one of the skills that need to be acquired to be able to achieve the targeted goals during times of volatility. She highlighted that leadership skills can be evaluated based on genuine points of strength, either on the levels of execution, strategic thinking, planning, networking, influencing, and communications.
