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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A humanitarian agenda
By Amer Sultan in London and Dahlia Hammouda in Cairo
Promoting the well-being of Egyptian children topped Mrs Suzanne Mubarak's agenda during her visit to London this week -- a humanitarian agenda that has come to be expected.
Mrs Mubarak receives the scholarship in the British House of Lords and delivering comments at the charity dinner
photos: Farouk Bondoq
On Monday, Mrs Mubarak attended a charity gala dinner organised by the Egyptian-British Foundation for Children with Special Needs to help raise funds for Egyptian children afflicted with cancer. On Tuesday, at the British House of Lords, British Aerospace (BAE) Systems presented her with a three-year scholarship in her name for training Egyptian teachers of deaf children.
This is Mrs Mubarak's second consecutive year to support the fund-raiser for Egyptian children with cancer. The Egyptian-British Foundation for Children with Special Needs was established in the UK in February 1999 during Mrs Mubarak's last visit to London.
During the dinner, Mrs Mubarak highlighted the value of the kind of work the foundation undertakes. "Our work together is a clear example of the successful collaboration, across national borders, of private organisations sharing common humanitarian goals," she said. "The foundation's success is largely due to the fact that its work has no political or any other ulterior motive, but is purely the expression of the culture of caring of its members."
Mrs Mubarak also hailed the partnership between the foundation and the Integrated Care Society (ICS), founded in Egypt by Mrs Mubarak, to address the needs of disabled children. She gave the audience a brief overview of Egypt's child-care efforts since her last meeting with the foundation members in 1999, speaking of the upgrading of special education schools and the launching, in June 1999, of a new programme for the reform and development of these schools by ICS.
"The welfare of the child has always been one of Egypt's top national priorities and is one to which I, personally, have dedicated, over the years, much of my time and energy," said Mrs Mubarak, who went on to highlight Egypt's achievements in this sector, including the successful completion of the government's programmes under the First Decade for the Protection and Development of the Egyptian Child (1989-1999), a national plan espoused by the president.
Discussing the planned emphasis on improving all children's services and conditions throughout the country in the next 10 years, Mrs Mubarak offered a few details on Egypt's track record in meeting children's comprehensive health needs. The country has succeeded in immunising more than 97 per cent of its young population against common children's illnesses, she said. Infant mortality has been lowered from 40 per thousand in 1989, to 26.3 per thousand in 1997 and maternal mortality has been reduced by 40 per cent during the same period.
Turning to the specific problem for which the event was organised, Mrs Mubarak said a national committee was set up in 1996 to plan and implement the National Cancer Control Programme. The Ministry of Health and Population has so far established eight modern cancer centres, located in various parts of the country, with a special department for children in every centre. "The state has done its best with the available human and financial resources, but it needs to do more with the help of its different partners -- the private sector and non-governmental organisations," she said.
"I know that you all agree with me that if we are able to make a child happy by replacing his tears with smiles, then all efforts, no matter how great, will surely be worth exerting," Mrs Mubarak told the gathering of more than 1,000 prominent Egyptian, British and Arab figures, including Baroness Symons, minister of state for military production, and the Duchess of Gloucester, who attended on behalf of the British royal family.
Mrs Mubarak thanked Sir Magdi Yacoub, head of the board of trustees of the foundation, for his work and his other voluntary contributions through his Chain of Hope Society. She said Egypt, his native country, was very proud of his "great success, reputation and his humane spirit that moves him to use his surgical skills for the benefit of the less favoured children in the developing world."
Mrs Mubarak was received the following day in the House of Lords by the majority leader Baroness Jay of Paddington, who is also minister for women. Mrs Mubarak is the first spouse of a head of state to be received in the British House of Lords.
In a handing-over ceremony, Mrs Mubarak was presented with a three-year scholarship, created by British Aerospace Systems, to fund the training of Egyptian teachers of deaf children.
Nic Bealey, director of the International Socio-economic Programmes department at BAE Systems, told Al-Ahram that the Suzanne Mubarak Scholarship has been created to honour the long and continued support for children in need both in Egypt and around the world. The scholarship, Bealey explained, will allow one teacher from Egypt each year, for the next three years, to travel to the UK and take a one-year specialist course for the teaching of deaf children.
BAE Systems is one of the world's foremost high-tech companies with over 100,000 employees in over 100 sites around the world. As part of its commitment to the communities in which it operates, the company works with the public and private sectors to ensure the technology it creates is transferred to the international community through mutually beneficial partnership programmes.
The Suzanne Mubarak Scholarship, while not the first BAE Systems award, is the first to be presented to an individual for work with special needs education.
"To reflect the extensive work with special needs children by the first lady of Egypt, the scholarship is in honour of a person who has had an influence on so many people, not just in her own country, but around the globe," Bealey said.
In the course of the event, Mrs Mubarak met with Baroness Blackstone, British minister for education and employment. She also met with members of the UK-Egypt All Party Parliamentary Group, which enables British parliamentarians to meet colleagues from Egypt to better understand the issues that underlie the countries' bilateral relationship and Egypt's view on various issues.
Later, Mrs Mubarak was met by Betty Boothroyd, madam speaker of the House of Commons. In a short interview with Al-Ahram, Ms Boothroyd said: "Mrs Mubarak is a most welcome visitor to the House of Commons, and I am delighted to have the opportunity of entertaining her to tea. For me, her visit symbolises Egypt's interest in the development of modern democratic institutions, as well as the warm relationship between Britain and Egypt."
Before leaving for London, Mrs Mubarak attended a forum in Cairo last Thursday entitled "Women and the Media," organised by the National Women's Council (NWC), to evaluate and discuss how the Egyptian media portrays women and, Mrs Mubarak said, to propose ways to improve that image.
In her speech at the event, Mrs Mubarak, head of the NWC, stressed the importance of the media working hand in hand with national institutions to enhance the image of women portrayed through various media channels.
"Everyone knows how mass communication has an increasing role today in formulating citizens' views and their stances with respect to society's various issues," she said. "The media could, in a direct or indirect way, instill either a positive or a negative picture of women in viewers' minds."
Today, Mrs Mubarak is due to meet with representatives of the UK Friends of the Library of Alexandria. The group's efforts in supporting the project of the revival of the Alexandria Library will be discussed.
