Egyptian student assumes NCW presidency for 1 day as part of ‘Girls in Leadership Roles’ initiative

CAIRO – 11 October 2021: Rina Hazem, a student at the Faculty of English Literature at Cairo University, assumed the position of the president of the National Council for Women for one day as part of the “Girls in Leadership Roles” initiative.

This comes in coincident with the International Day of the Girl, where Dr. Maya Morsi, the President of the National Council for Women, received Student Rina Hazem, who is a volunteer at the Red Crescent to occupy the position as part of the state’s efforts to empower women and girls.

The initiative is organized by the Ministry of Social Solidarity in cooperation with Plan International Egypt.

Morsi explained, Monday, that Egyptian girls are very fortunate, saying that “Egypt is witnessing a great unprecedented leap in the field of women’s and girl’s rights, in light of a conscious and wise plan that works on empowering women to reach highest leadership positions.”

She said that the council plays an important role in educating women and girls about their rights in all fields, adding that the role of future generations is to preserve these rights, and to complete the march towards obtaining more rights that empower women and girls and do justice to them.

"My message to every Egyptian girl on this special day as she draws her steps towards the future, is to learn, succeed, work, fight for your dream and tell the world that there is no longer anything that can be difficult for the Egyptian girl to achieve, the road is paved in front of you and in front of all girls of your generation, empowered by a political will that believes that the girls of Egypt have the ability to make the impossible and change the world,” said Dr. Morsi.  

For her part, Rina Hazem expressed her dream of having a role in providing assistance to girls and women, and introducing them to the rights granted to them by the state, and the ways to obtain them, noting the importance of awareness-raising as a key factor in women's access to their rights.

Hazem further stressed the importance of raising children of both sexes from the beginning on respecting and accepting of the other, expressing her happiness with this distinguished experience that was granted to her to assume such an important role, even for one day.

The visit ended with a tour inside the council. It is worth noting that the United Nations has designated the eleventh day of October of each year to celebrate the International Day of the Girl, to support the basic priorities in order to protect the rights of girls.