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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Pack of Cards
By Madame Sosostris
* Darlings today I have something interesting and new for the younger generation, having just talked to Soha Abdel-Ati who recently graduated from the American University in Cairo and joined Al-Ahram Weekly. Soha, an active participant in last year's Cairo International Model United Nations (CIMUN) -- as Kofi Anan would you believe -- was just back from attending the UN Fair organised by the 13th CIMUN at .AUC, Soha was quite enthusiastic about the event: "Whether you are looking for job opportunities, more knowledge about the United Nations (UN), or are just curious to know what the UN is doing in Egypt, AUC was the place to be in today" she told me. In an event that was the first of its kind, representatives from UN agencies in Egypt came for three days with brochures, posters, and videos to talk with students about UN projects in Egypt, covering fields such as environment, development, drug and crime control, and refugees, while at the same time seeking out potential volunteers for these various projects. The fair was also the first event to be carried out by the organisers of this year's Model UN programme. "We wanted to increase AUC students' awareness about the work and projects of UN agencies in Egypt because CIMUN feels that such an exposure is of mutual benefit to both UN agencies and to us. MUN and the UN agencies have had strong a relationship in the past, and this is our way of ensuring that we preserve this relationship and strengthen it for the future," said Rafik Riad, Head of the Organising Committee of CIMUN 2001.
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At a conference that simulates the UN, the UN agencies in Egypt have over the past few years supported the Model UN programme in numerous ways. Last year, CIMUN 2000 organised a UN reception in which participants in the Model UN learned more about the work of the UN in Egypt through a speech given by Mr Edmund Caine, resident regional coordinator of the UN. This year UN agencies in Egypt chose to express their support by helping CIMUN to spread more knowledge about the UN, one of the many aims of CIMUN. The fair however, proved to be of benefit to the UN agencies that perceived it as an opportunity to promote their projects. "It is a very successful and fruitful idea. We are trying to spread UN knowledge, and this was a great opportunity to achieve this goal. I wish it would be replicated in other universities," said Manal Ramah, community, public relations and information assistant at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
UNDP was one of the agencies that participated in the fair. The others included the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The representatives from these agencies found positive feedback from the students at AUC, as Hoda Zaghloul, programme, finance assistant at UNODCCP puts it, "We found that the students were very interested in the UN. Some had specific questions, while others wanted to join our agencies. Overall, we found that the youth were very much involved in the community and we hope to see more of that."
On the other hand, there were students that needed to increase their knowledge about certain issues and problems that affect their daily lives, and took advantage of the UN fair to gain that knowledge. Yasmeen Guindy, head of the public relations committee of CIMUN 2001 confirmed the need for information by commenting that "several students did not know that there was a drug control office in Egypt. After the UN fair, these students not only learned about the office, but also gained a wider understanding of the effects of drugs, and the representatives managed to correct the misconceptions that many of these students had on the subject. This was our aim initially, to spread awareness about issues that are critical to such an age group as that of AUC and I believe we were successful in accomplishing this."
If you have children enrolled in AUC this of course is hardly news to you but not everyone dears is aware of some of the activities taking place on campus so I thought I would quickly refresh your memories: The Model UN programme is a student-run organisation that began 13 years ago. Its participants spend nine months preparing for the conference that takes place every year in March. This year's conference will take place from 13 to 18 .
The participants not only gain an insight into the workings of the UN, but also manage to acquire several valuable inter-personal and communications skills that develop their characters.
Adding on to that, Sherif El-Sayed, secretary-general of CIMUN 2001 comments that CIMUN, "is not merely a conference, it is an organisation that aims at interacting with the community in the most fruitful way. The UN fair is a manifestation of this aim."
* While AUCians are getting involved in all this UN activity, three members of Al-Ahram's staff are preparing to travel to England where they will spend a year getting their master's degree. Our own military corespondent and Fellow of Nasser Supreme Military Academy Galal Nassar received a scholarship to Leeds University where he will be studying international mass communication and administration of international conflicts; Ezzat Ibrahim of Al-Ahram's foreign desk will be going to Sussex University to study globalisation; while Gasser El-Shahed of the department of Arab Affairs will be going into international relationships at Warwick University. The Chevening scholarships that the three young journalists have been awarded are sponsored by several Egyptian businessmen under the auspices of the British Council. Of course we will miss them sorely, especially Galal who has been with the Weekly since its beginnings in 1991, exactly 500 issues ago.
* As summer ends, I find myself reminiscing about a holiday spent in Valencia not so long ago, strolling the cobbled streets and nibbling on tapas in little out-of-the-way bodegas. Lucky, then, that the Generalitat Valenciana (the regional government of Valencia) in Spain, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture in Egypt, is presenting an exhibition entitled "Orientalism in the Painting of Antonio Muñoz Degra’n."
You would have spotted me -- discreet as I may have been in my black lace mantilla, I never manage to go unnoticed for long -- if you had been at the inauguration, presided over by several dear friends of mine: Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, Spanish Ambassador to Cairo Alfonso Ortiz, President of the Generalitat Valenciana Eduardo Zaplana Hernàndez Soro and General Director of Museums and Exhibitions Hamdi Shehata at Horizon I Gallery, in the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum. The exhibition will last until 30 September, and showcases an essential stage in the the early 20th-century Valencian painter's career. I was quite transported by his vision, and I am sure you will be too.
