U.S. Ambassador in Cairo: Egypt-America relations are strong, deep; WYF was a source of inspiration for us

CAIRO – 19 January 2022: The U.S. Ambassador to Cairo, Jonathan Cohen, said that the World Youth Forum, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, a few days ago, was an important and good opportunity to exchange visions between heads of government, politicians, ministers, business leaders, cultural and youth figures, not only in Egypt, but from all over the region and the world.

His remarks came during a televised interview with "Happening in Egypt" TV program presented by Journalist Sherif Amer.

The U.S. Ambassador  announced during the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum that he will start the U.S. Ambassdors Youth Council at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. According to him, the council will consist of 10 young Egyptian leaders between the age of 18 and 25 who are going to work together with him and the Embassy team to address common issues as we strive to achieve a better shared future.

During the TV interview, the U.S. Ambassador explained that “The council is a non-political advisory, and I must say that the World Youth Forum was a source of inspiration for us, because we want to get young people’s visions in our dialogues when we discuss a number of issues related to Egyptian relations.”

He added, “In America, we apply youth diplomacy to things like education and sports, but usually we don't get a chance to hear the perspective of young people, on things like fighting the coronavirus, climate change, or trade and commerce, so what I really want to do is harness the creativity that young people bring to our conversations here at the embassy through this perspective, and share their perspective with Washington as we shape our future policies.”

As for the selection of Egyptian youth at the council, the U.S. Ambassador said “this year we chose them through our existing networks, and we have a network of alumni exchange which is very strong through open programs with the United States. We also have a very strong network of contacts through universities and through a number of schools that we support, whether vocational or secondary schools through other organizations and exchange programmes,

“We reached out to get a diverse group of people from different sectors from all over Egypt, half of them men and the other half women of different age groups, and we make sure that young people share one thing and that is a strong commitment to the future of their country and the future of Egyptian-American relations,” he continued.

Regarding Egyptian-American cooperation in dealing with the Corona pandemic, Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said that the United States of America provided 20 million doses of Corona vaccines to Egypt, within the framework of the strong relations between Cairo and Washington and evidence of the deep Egyptian-American strategic partnership.

The U.S. has worked since the beginning of the epidemic on helping Egypt a lot in facing the virus crisis, and contributed, through the USAID’s efforts, in Egypt’s fight against COVID with nearly 55 million dollars, which were allocated for various types of awareness, tests and other medical procedures to stop the spread of the virus.

Jonathan Cohen added, the United States of America also provided two mobile medical units to Egypt, which conduct coronavirus tests, collect samples, and implement other laboratory and medical procedures for areas where it is difficult for residents to go to hospital units.  

“We are deeply engaged with Egypt in order to assist it in confronting the Corona virus, and we remember that early in the outbreak of the pandemic, Egypt donated to the United States with protective equipment that we had a shortage of, so it is an open dialogue and we always try to help Egypt in any way we can do that,” he said.

He concluded, “The relationship between the United States and Egypt is strong and deep, as was reaffirmed in our Strategic Dialogue in November, where the two countries assured their commitment to the strategic partnership. It is a dialogue that spans from cultural heritage preservation to work on education, regional policy to defense, and security and even trade, we have aspects in the relationship between us that we are currently working on and I am looking forward to 2022, during which we will continue to improving and increasing trade and investment.”