Stories
- Ending violence against women and girls (28)
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment (18)
- Economic empowerment (17)
- Communications and media (14)
- Gender, culture and society (5)
- COVID-19 (4)
- Education (4)
- Health (4)
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (4)
- Human rights (3)
- Leadership and political participation (3)
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From where I stand: “The most important skill to learn is how to be at peace with yourself.”
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Etemad Al Sururi is a Yemeni refugee who came to Egypt a year ago after witnessing the horrors of the war in her home country. After settling down in Egypt with her sister-in law, Etemad and her husband struggled to find jobs, despite their studies and work experience. Therefore, she decided to take a different road and learn new skills. She enrolled in UN Women’s vocational training course in October 2019, where she learned bakery and cake decorating – a first step to her new life....
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Qesma Ismail is a Psychosocial Case Worker at Saint Andrew's Refugee Services helping women refugees who have experienced traumatic events throughout their life. She provides psychological support to the women she meets through group therapy and individual counselling.
From where I stand: “Never let fear stop you… feel it and do it”
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Abir Leheta is a wife and mother of two girls, aged 14 and 19. At the age of 42, Leheta was appointed as the Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Egytrans, originally a family-owned company that grew considerably, got listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, and is now considered one of the leading companies in Egypt in the male-dominated industry of transport and logistics.
From where I stand: “I printed a 3-D face shield to protect my sister from the coronavirus”
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Randa Atef is a 26-year-old electrical engineer from El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Gharbia Governorate. Atef is cofounder of the Robot Academy, a skills-development centre that organizes robotics and electronics educational activities for the children of El-Mahalla. Her passion for innovation and her drive to protect her sister, a dentist, from the coronavirus inspired Atef to use a locally manufactured 3-D printer to make her face shields. Given the rising local demand for such personal protective...
Monday, June 22, 2020
With ongoing conflict and war around the world, people are on the move, migrating to escape danger and poverty and seeking better living conditions. Currently, Egypt hosts more than 252,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers – and nearly half are girls and women (UNHCR, 2019). To establish long-term solutions, UN Women is working with refugee women and girls in Egypt to protect their rights, create employment opportunities and provide social support. We spent a day with women in different classes and many women were eager to share their stories and tell us how the training has made an impact on their lives.
Restoring the role of fathers within the family
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Traditional gender roles have for a long time segregated the roles of parents at home – with mothers usually fully responsible for raising children while fathers act mainly as providers, with little involvement in child-raising. With an aim to promote more active roles for fathers within their families – including their fundamental influence on children – UN Women Egypt in partnership with the National Council for Women organized a “Father and Child” camp to raise awareness of fathers on their essential role and strengthen their bond with their children.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Amr Mohey El-Din Abdelrahman chairs the Board of Directors of the community-based organization (CBO) El-Shabab Association for Developing Community, working in Akhmin, Qalyubia governorate. The CBO was one of six CBOs that received small grants under UN Women Egypt’s “Men and Women for Gender Equality (MWGE)” programme, to implement...
Monday, June 15, 2020
On the occasion of the National Day to Eradicate FGM, the United Nations in Egypt joins the Government of Egypt in honoring the memory of all victims of this inhumane crime, while condemning the most recent incident of the father who deceived and forced his three daughters to undergo FGM at the hands of a doctor, risking their lives and potentially causing long lasting physical and psychological implications.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
During crisis, we face a lot of pressure, that’s why our mental health should be a priority. “Our Mental Health is a Priority” is an initiative by The National Council for Women in collaboration with UN Women that aims at supporting women’s mental health and raising awareness about mental health in general, especially during crisis.
Market vendors access wholesalers, boosting incomes in a more spacious and hygienic market
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
When you step into the newly renovated Zenien Market in the centre of the Giza Governorate, you’ll find neatly arranged clothes and stalls brimming with a colourful assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. The market’s physical structure and product display are decidedly different from other markets in the area, which are crowded and randomly organized with narrow pathways. Prior to its renovation, Zenien used to be dingy, lacking in safety and barely...
Youth volunteers combat the COVID-19 epidemic of misinformation in the Arab States
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, emerging evidence shows that underlying gender inequalities are exacerbated by this crisis. As observed in previous pandemics, women are -and will be- disproportionately affected in myriad ways, including by an increased incidence of domestic violence, loss of jobs and increased unpaid care burden. Previous experiences also indicate that failing to collect gender-disaggregated data can have a negative impact in the effectiveness of the response and recovery efforts.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone, everywhere. But it affects different groups of people differently, deepening existing inequalities. Today we are launching a report that shows how COVID-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights – and recommends ways to put women’s leadership and contributions at the heart of resilience and recovery.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
At the beginning of this week, the United Nations Secretary-General issued an appeal to stop violence everywhere including violence in the home. As Directors of the four United Nations Agencies who have been working together to highlight the importance of Gender Justice and Equality before the law1 as a clear path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, we call upon states in the Arab states region to respond to the Secretary-General’s appeal.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
UN Women commends the National Council for Women for its efforts to ensure that a gender perspective is adopted in Egypt’s COVID-19 response plan and will continue to support national efforts to carry out additional measures in line with its responsibilities, which include advancing women’s rights during such difficult times.
Sewing the seeds of empowerment in Egypt
Thursday, April 2, 2020
After abandoning school at the age of 14 to care for her cancer-stricken father, Passant Naser started sewing clothing for dolls in her free time. At 16, she dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and enrolled in various dressmaking courses. But she found the trainings expensive, inefficient and old-fashioned, and when she tried to enrol in academic institutions, she was told she was too young. So, sewing remained a hobby. Passant Naser models one of the outfits she designed at...
Gender and COVID-19 in the Arab States
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Moez Doraid, UN Women Regional Director a.i. for the Arab States We are currently living through a period of significant change and uncertainty, as governments, with the support of the World Health Organization, respond to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolving international public health. While all our lives are affected by the impact of COVID-19, it is vital that global, regional and national response plans address the specific implications for the health and safety...
From where I stand: “I feel safe and I know my husband can’t reach me here”
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Married at 19 to an abusive husband, Mariam Ismail*, now 26, is living in a women’s shelter in Giza, Egypt, along with her two children, aged 4 and 5. Supported by UN Women in partnership with the Ministry of Social Solidarity and with the support of USAID, the shelter was recently upgraded through a survivor-centred approach that actively involved shelter users and staff in the design process, which increased safety, privacy and confidentiality for women survivors of violence.
"Ring the Bell for Gender Equality" Kicks off in Egypt
Monday, March 9, 2020
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, UN Women Egypt marked this day in partnership with the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), the National Council for Women, the Egyptian Institute of Directors and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, through the annual Ring the Bell for Gender Equality event at the premises of the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
Art imitates life as FGM film screenings and group discussions begin
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
The award-winning film Bein Bahrain (Between Two Seas), produced by UN Women in collaboration with the National Council for Women (NCW) and Axeer, sheds light on the different forms of violence faced by Egyptian women and girls. It was screened at the premise of the NCW on the occasion of “Zero Tolerance against female genital mutilation (FGM) Day” to 100 women from the outskirts of Greater Cairo – as the first in a series of field-based screenings in Egypt.
UN in Egypt Statement on Nada, Victim of FGM in Assiut
Sunday, February 2, 2020
The United Nations in Egypt is deeply saddened by the recent tragic death of 12-year-old Nada in Assiut Governorate while undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at the hands of a doctor. We are outraged that such senseless deaths still occur in 2020, despite progress made to eradicate this violent practice in terms of law reform, awareness raising, as well as direct engagement with local communities and religious leaders. We welcome the statement by the National Committee for the...