Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, confirmed that increasing the rate of women’s empowerment in many leadership positions is the result of support from the political leadership. His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has been keen, since assuming the presidency, to create a climate supportive of women’s participation in the decision-making process by increasing their representation in the government, parliament, boards of directors, the judiciary, and other fields, pointing to the Ministry of Environment’s constant interest in involving women in environmental work, as the Ministry provides all possible forms of support to empower women economically as they are an influential element in all environmental issues.
This came during her participation in the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” conference organized by the Faculty of Medicine, Misr University of Science and Technology, in the presence of Dr. Nadia Zakhari, former Minister of Scientific Research and member of the National Council for Women; Dr. Nihad Al-Mahboob, Acting President of the University of Egypt and Dean of the Faculty of Human Medicine; Dr. Ahmed Fouad, Vice Dean of the College for Community Service and Environmental Affairs, among several male and female students and university professors.
Fouad voiced her gratitude for the invitation to participate in this important and distinguished event, and for choosing the appropriate university to celebrate this occasion in memory of Dr. Souad Kafafi, the pioneer of private university education in Egypt, who linked the role of women and science and was able, through determination and challenge, to build this huge edifice, indicating her pride in representing a large percentage of women hold the position of university deans, praising the scientific experiments that were reviewed during the conference, reviewing their journey and experience in the field of environmental work and the challenges and difficulties they faced since the beginning of their journey in the field, stressing that their love of work, persistence, and dedication helped achieve many successes in this field.
The minister further explained that there were many challenges that she faced during her professional career, and she said: The credit for what I have achieved goes to my mother, as she has endured much of what I have gone through in my professional life, and she is also considered the role model that I have followed in my life, stressing that the greatest challenge was to be careful. I will always live up to the responsibility placed on my shoulders as an Egyptian minister and mother.
She noted that her assumption of the ministry coincided with an important event, which was the Egyptian state hosting the first United Nations conference on biodiversity in Egypt, noting that despite the limited time and organizational challenges at the time, the support provided by His Excellency Mr. President of the Republic, Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, for this conference and honoring him with attendance had a profound impact on her overcoming it and continuing to perform her duties as Minister of the Environment.
Minister Fouad added that the current supportive climate has greatly contributed to putting the environmental issue on the table for discussions in all fields, directing her message to Egyptian women that every woman, regardless of the challenges and difficulties she faces, must not give up and try again and again until she reaches her goal and stands on solid ground.
The Minister of Environment pointed to several inspiring models at the local level, including the success of the idea of local biogas units, which was created by a woman from Upper Egypt in Assiut Governorate, and from there she began disseminating the idea, creating job opportunities for young people and linking them to the countryside, ensuring gas reaches homes in the Egyptian countryside, and providing organic fertilizer to the farmer.
The Minister of Environment stressed that Egyptian women are the true heroes and are the first barrier in confronting the effects of climate change, which was an incentive to take steps to provide support to them, raise their awareness, and inform them of the necessary measures to address the effects of climate change.
She proceeded to stress that Egyptian women can, with knowledge and diligence, create challenges for themselves and establish a position for themselves within society, noting that the Ministry created an educational curriculum in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for children aged 6 to 15 years 4 years ago, to integrate the concept of climate change, biodiversity and the environment into educational curricula. Two years ago, a professional master’s degree in natural resources management was also created in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Universities, which includes 15 curricula for various topics in the environment.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad also conducted an open dialogue with the participants to answer their questions and concerns, expressing her hope that there will be an increase in the percentage of representation of women who carry out executive work in the governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt, stressing that cooperation between the genders in all fields helps achieve the desired goals.
The Minister of Environment referred to the experience she had in the field of climate conferences, through her participation in many conferences, starting from its third session and continuing through various subsequent conferences, which added to her strong background in preparing this type of conference and facilitated the task of her participation in preparing for the climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh. COP27, that she had a strong background in climate and presented the Ministry of Environment and Egypt in general with a decent and honorable appearance before the world, and reflected Egypt’s great ability to organize this type of conference, pointing out that the scientific experiment proved the ability of Egyptian women to hold senior positions.
During the conference, Dr. Yasmine Fouad was honored for her tireless efforts in the field of environmental work, her support for women, and the provision of the necessary facilities to integrate Egyptian women into environmental work.
It is worth noting that “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” is celebrated on February 11 of each year in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolution issued in December 2015, to celebrate the role of women and girls in the fields of science and technology.
The United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization seek to achieve gender equality in cooperation with their partners from civil society. The celebration aims to enhance women’s access to the field of science and technology and their full participation in this field, including the advancement of their education.
