Issue No. 603
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12 - 18 September 2002 Issue No. 603 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
A worthy investment
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Karin Sham Poo, in Cairo to attend the launch of The Situation of Egyptian Children and Women: A Rights-Based Approach -- a joint report by UNICEF, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and the Ministry of Planning, spoke to Dahlia Hammouda of her assessment of progress made in the state of Egypt's children and her hopes for the future
The Situation of Egyptian Children and Women is the first report of its kind for Egypt and an achievement in itself. What is the best way to translate its general objectives into action on the ground?
It's not the first time a report has been made on the situation of women and children in Egypt, but it is the first time it has been published like this. What is very important is that it talks about progress, but it also identifies some of the areas where progress needs to be made. Some of them are difficult areas that deal with regional disparities, then there are also the broader child protection issues.
Achievement has been made in health, for example, the child mortality rate has been reduced remarkably, but a lot more needs to be done. Egypt is also still one of the seven countries in the world where you have had polio cases in the last 12 months. The Ministry of Health is focusing on national campaigns for immunisation days to eradicate polio from Egypt by the end of the year.
The report is not an end in itself, but more a beginning. It will be used to measure progress and to identify what else needs to be done, not just in the areas where UNICEF is supporting the government of Egypt, but also in areas where the government is working by itself and with many other partners.
As someone who has first-hand knowledge of the work of children's and women's organisations worldwide, how do you assess the performance of the NCCM?
What is excellent about the NCCM is that it brings together so many involved parties. Because, very often, in various countries we deal with individual ministries, which we, to a certain degree, also do here. But the NCCM is an overall body that brings it all together. We have excellent cooperation with them, I'm very happy with it.
In the past couple of days you have visited a number of educational projects in Upper Egypt and a legal centre for women's protection in Alexandria. Could you tell us your personal impressions of the visits?
I was very happy to see the legal centre in Alexandria. I have seen similar activities in other countries and you really understand the importance of getting legal aid to women and particularly women who do not have the resources.
As for the education projects I visited in Upper Egypt, I thought that was one of the most fascinating things that I experienced during my visit here and I would have loved to have much more time. We are supporting around 200 community schools and that figure will be increased by another 100. While this is not a big number, the example can be replicated. The quality of learning, the children's participation and parents' participation were really remarkable. Although the school year hasn't started yet here, they had children who had just graduated this summer there, assisting the young students just entering school -- to get them to understand how the school works and to discuss how they work in groups.
I think it is a great example that can be replicated also outside Egypt. I had a meeting, among many others, with the prime minister, and he is very interested and wants UNICEF's assistance to write up what has been achieved so far. He plans to invite all the governors to a seminar to discuss this experience and to see what can be done in other areas in Egypt.
The NCCM's head, Moushira Khattab, said the report was a "national" one, which means it involves the participation of government, as well as non-governmental agencies. Do you think Egypt's non-governmental community and its local government are sufficiently active in the development process?
I'm not an expert on this, actually, perhaps the UNICEF representative here would have these kinds of details. But my impression is that we are working with a number of NGOs and one other thing I saw in Alexandria is an excellent cooperation between the government, NGOs and UNICEF.
I also met with the minister of social affairs, whose ministry deals with NGOs, and she was extremely positive and said if we have any problems to let her know.
How will UNICEF, as a developmental partner, be able to use the facts and analyses in the report to guide its future contributions to Egypt?
The situation analysis is actually a base for the new country programme that just started. It has always been a very important input to the new programme of cooperation. But it will also be updated on a regular basis and used during the next five years, which is the new programme's duration, to measure progress.
Egypt's achievements in the past two decades in protecting the rights of women and children show there is a strong political commitment to that cause. Yet, despite the gains, a great deal still remains to be done. If you had one piece of advice specific to our country's effort in this domain, what would it be?
I think, first of all, there is a political will from the president, the first lady and all the way down to local governments and communities, which makes a big difference. I think the continued involvement of local communities and of children and young people themselves could make an even bigger difference.
In May at the UN special session, countries from around the world renewed their commitment to children. What are your feelings about the prospects for children in the coming decade?
I hope they will improve dramatically. There are many difficulties that can arise. Over the last 10 years, the tremendous impact of HIV Aids was not something that we expected. That, I think, will still be with us in the next decade. I hope we will be able to really reduce the incidence of HIV Aids, but it will continue to have a major impact.
I also hope that the adults of the world will remember the importance of investing in children, because children are the future. I also hope for a peaceful world, which will make a big difference to both children and adults.
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