Empowering youth, PM directs to appoint young associate ministers

CAIRO – 2 August 2018: Ashraf Sultan, Cabinet spokesman, revealed Wednesday that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directed to appoint youth to associate minister positions, within the framework of implementing the outcome of the National Youth Conference held in late July.

In his interview with "Ra’iy Aam" (Public Opinion) TV program on TEN, Sultan said that hiring youth has been a successful experience, adding that the state wants to benefit from youth experience and allow them to enhance their skills, as they are the future leaders of the country.


On July 28-29, Sisi held the sixth youth conference in Cairo University in the attendance of 3,000 youths. The official page of the president announced receiving Egyptian university students’ questions from July 14 to July 24 for Sisi to answer them.

Many ministers in the current Cabinet, including Health Minister Hala Zayed, 51, and Youth Minister Ashraf Sobhi are relatively young.

In a meeting with young diplomatic figures on Thursday, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed the necessity of benefiting from such figures to improve and develop the ministry’s performance. He affirmed that the ministry seeks the best fresh graduates.


In a meeting with young diplomatic figures on Thursday, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed the necessity of benefiting from such figures to improve and develop the ministry’s performance - Press photo
Launching dialogues with our international partners and engaging them in forums like the World Youth Forum is very important as it shows that Egypt has a wealth of human cadres besides its vision to shape the future, said Foreign Minister Shoukry in an interview with ON Live in November.

Shoukry said that Egypt has a highly efficient and promising generation, assuring that Egypt‘s future will be led by conscious youth. With youth, Egypt is moving towards the future with steady steps.

In late July, Egypt's Planning Minister, Hala el-Said, said that Egyptian youth is the main wealth of Egypt. Egypt’s top priority is investing in the human capital through investing in education and health as well as in capacity building and training. The minister referred that Egypt is fortunate to have 60 percent of its population under the age of 30.

Said stated that young people should exert all their efforts to boost the country's economy, as well as social and environmental status, adding that young people must be actively involved with the government and civil society as their participation builds a better future for all Egyptians.

According to article 244 of the constitution, the state guarantees Egyptian youth, Christians, people with special needs and expats the right to get a suitable number of seats in the Parliament.

In 2016, following the 2015 parliamentary election, then prime minister's advisor on elections, Refaat Qomsan, said that the percentage of youth in the House of Representatives was unprecedented. He revealed that 60 parliamentarians were under the age of 35, and another 125 members are of the age range 36 to 45. He added that youth Parliament members represented 32.6 percent of members.

Moreover, hundreds of youth prisoners were released in the past few years by presidential pardons, according to lists created by the Presidential Pardon Committee and approved by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The Committee was formed in October 2016 by a presidential decree.


Prisoners meet their families after being released per presidential pardon on first day of Eid Al-Fitr on June 15, 2018 - Hazim Abdel Samad/Egypt Today