Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, has participated in the Linkedin Live Webinar Series on Women Empowerment for the Leadership in 2020 session.
The minister’s first appearance in the series had over 5,600 viewers from across Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.
As an influential role model, and the youngest Egyptian minister to hold office, the webinar aimed to showcase the minister’s story to inspire other global professional leaders and the Linkedin community.
The webinar focusing on her positive personal narrative, namely the 4Cs of Competence, Confidence, Connections and Charm, as well as her International Cooperation Global Partnerships Narrative, using P&P&P: People & Projects & Purpose. It also focused on her individual perspective on leadership and what the future holds for the current economic situation.
The session began by a multi-angled review of Minister Al-Mashat’s journey, including her personal development as a leader and her upbringing. It also looked at her professional career in central banking and designing monetary policy, and her journey to several positions in high public office.
The second part of the session tackled the ways the minister aims to push “Economic Diplomacy” forward through international cooperation.
“No country can stay isolated by itself, and this is even more evident today, as we see the interconnectedness of all societies regardless of geography,” Minister Al-Mashat said. “Multilateralism is key in building towards a better and more resilient recovery.”
In April, the Ministry of International Cooperation launched its multi-stakeholder platforms, which aims to boost collective action between multilateral and bilateral development partners and line ministers. Its aim is to not only mitigate the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but to also build for an agile, yet outcome-oriented future.
Since the platform’s launch, the ministry has organised a number of participatory workshops in various sectors that include: Health; Women Economic Empowerment; Public Enterprises; Private Sector Engagement in Development; Rural and Agricultural Development; Transportation and Social Safety Nets.
The platforms illustrate how collective efforts to drive public-private action and collaboration on the circular economy can reinforce existing multilateral efforts.
The Ministry of International Cooperation has also recently launched ‘The Global Partnership Narrative’, which aims to prioritise and strengthen cooperation among development partners. The end goal under this initiative is to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focusing on three pillars: ‘People at the Core’, ‘Projects in Action’ and ‘Purpose as the Driver’.
The narrative also utilises different channels to communicate with the public, the international community, and multilateral and bilateral development partners.
“Egypt entered this crisis with very strong fiscal and foreign reserve buffers, because of the reforms that were implemented between 2016 and 2018,” Minister Al-Mashat said.
“Countries aren’t just judged by their GDP, but also through their own developmental story. Multilateralism helps create a platform where each country can participate and have a voice in development,” she added.
Moreover, the Ministry of International Cooperation has put in place an “Official Development Assistance – Sustainable Development Goals Mapping” framework. This represents a comprehensive mapping exercise of all current effective projects, and which aligns them with the relevant SDGs, to ensure effective development cooperation.
For future inspiring leaders, Minister Al-Mashat stressed the importance of expanding one’s interests, and not being confined to any particular profession or place. Instead, the individual should try to increase and diversify their interests and professional skills, to gain more expertise.
She also highlighted that leadership is essentially a journey, and that there are three essential factors for success: intention; authenticity; and being present.
“There will be tough times, but the advice I have is to focus on three things: to set your intention; be very authentic in what you do, and here comes the idea of passion; and thirdly be present in every moment,” she said.
The minister has won several awards during her career. In 2013, Minister Al-Mashat received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the American University in Cairo (AUC). In 2014, the World Economic Forum named her a “Young Global Leader”. She was named one of the 50 most influential women in the Egyptian economy in 2015.
