Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat participated in the Horasis Extraordinary Annual meeting, the plenary “Nurturing Inclusive Leadership” event.
The meeting focused on how to continue the deployment of international leadership as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, and implement novel business models for deep social cohesion.
The global meeting gathered around 1,000 of the most senior members of the Horasis Visions Community, including several heads of governments and key ministers. These included HH Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, Director General at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) António Vitorino, and Nik Gowing, Founder of “Thinking the Unthinkable.”
At the high-level meeting, the participants discussed the economic, political and social disruptions caused by the pandemic.
To push for an international response to the COVID-19 emergency, Minister Al-Mashat declared the years of 2020-2021 as the years of multilateralism.
She noted that her ministry has focused on strengthening economic diplomacy through three principles: regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P); and mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
On promoting inclusion and diversity, the minister referred to the “silver lining” in the pandemic, and that despite the crisis it had also accelerated reforms. Of the reforms that have been accelerated in Egypt, one includes the “Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator” to integrate more women into the country’s productivity, job creation and economic empowerment.
Many policies have also been implemented to support women during the pandemic and facilitate a remote working environment to sustain jobs. These policies include allowing working mothers with children under the age of 12 and mothers of children with disabilities the right to take paid leave following the suspension of schools and universities.
Minister Al-Mashat added that nurturing inclusive leadership will require the leaders of tomorrow to lead with creative imagination to push forward through crises. This can provide new momentum for economic growth and job creation, including women and youth, and provide solutions to the biggest global challenges, such as eradicating poverty.
Horasis is a global visions community that provides a unique platform for companies from emerging and developed markets to globalise their organisations.
