		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 18 - 24 June 1998 Issue No.382
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN

By Rania Khalaf

EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN: Combating illiteracy among women living in rural areas was the focus of a meeting of the National Women's Committee held on Sunday and chaired by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. The meeting was meant to follow up recommendations made by the Third National Conference for Egyptian Women held in March. To improve the status of rural women, the conference passed four sets of recommendations: eliminating illiteracy; providing reproductive health services; developing small industries; and raising rural women's awareness of their political, social and legal rights. Sunday's meeting focused on the first recommendation -- how to combat illiteracy and educate provincial women.

At the meeting, Education Minister Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin announced that the ministry will build more one-class schools in provincial areas. The number of schools will hit the 3,000 mark this year, rising to 5,000 by the end of 1999, he said. One-class schools aims to provide girls who are not enrolled in regular schools with education and other skills. The ministry will also continue to review and revise educational curricula with the aim of raising students' awareness of human rights, with the emphasis on gender equality, Bahaeddin said.

Minister of Rural Development Mahmoud El-Sherif said his ministry will cooperate with the Ministry of Education in building a number of one-class schools in remote villages.

Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif, who also took part in the meeting, said that a media campaign will be launched in support of the role women play in society and to encourage them to exercise their political rights. A new television educational channel will also help in eliminating illiteracy by offering special programmes, he said.

Health Minister Ismail Sallam said that a plan to expand reproductive health and family planning services, making them available in all remote areas, will be fully implemented this year.

Hussein El-Gammal, chairman of the Social Fund for Development, said that LE95 million in loans will be given to help people launch small projects in provincial areas. Thirty per cent of that amount will be earmarked for projects owned and directed by women. The ceiling for each loan is LE8,000.

Mrs Mubarak suggested that an assessment be made of illiteracy elimination projects before a new project is launched. She also recommended that five working groups be formed to cover different subject areas. "These groups should visit the various governorates to listen to what rural women have to say about what has been achieved," she said.

Mrs Mubarak stated that the National Committee should coordinate the efforts made by various bodies to avoid overlapping and duplication. "I also suggest that the committee adopt a definite and limited number of pilot projects in one governorate to improve the status of rural women," she said.

Implementing the conference's recommendations is a common responsibility which all government and non-governmental organisations should undertake together, she concluded.

As part of the Reading for All festival, Mrs Mubarak visited four libraries in the Giza Governorate on Monday. During the visits, she talked to children to find out whether they understood how to use computers and the Internet.

Mrs Mubarak was shown a miniature model of an open-air book fair, which will be built in Mohandessin within six months. It will include a reading hall and an Internet café.