Int'l Cooperation Min. releases its 2021 annual report titled, ‘Engaging for Impact Towards Our Common Future: Int'l Partnerships for Sustainable Development’

CAIRO - 17 January 2022: The Ministry of International Cooperation released Monday its 2021 annual report titled, ‘Engaging for Impact Towards Our Common Future: International Partnerships for Sustainable Development’.

The report highlighted the Ministry’s country-led multi-stakeholder engagement framework and delves into four main areas of work that envisage an inclusive, green and digital future, according to the Ministry.

The Ministry noted that the report tells a different story of Egypt’s resilience during the pandemic as it sheds light on the human-centric impact of development financing that addresses development challenges by strengthening coordinated actions across the inclusive-green-digital nexus. 

The push to localize global agendas has also become increasingly important as countries are expected to realign global agendas to adapt to new local pressures, and for international development partners to be more aware of shifting local conditions. 

In line with the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to bolster Egypt’s multilateral cooperation through country-led frameworks, the Ministry of International Cooperation has been keen on pushing the frontiers of collaboration and transparent governance through the three principles of economic diplomacy to effectively deliver the 2030 National Agenda, consistent with the UN SDGs. In 2021, the Ministry of International Cooperation secured a total of $10.27 billion in development financing, including over $8.75 billion for financing sovereign projects and $1.57 billion in support of the private sector.

Under the first principle of economic diplomacy, the Ministry hosted multi-stakeholder platforms throughout the year to streamline efforts and achieve value-centric results that come as a result of interactive conversations with all stakeholders. The platforms garnered over 800 total participants, bringing in more than 80 potential opportunities and 40 requests for collaboration in the following sectors: microfinance, the private sector, agricultural development and food security, renewable energy, human capital, and digitalization. 

The second principle of economic diplomacy is ODA-SDG mapping to ensure that all projects align with new environmental, social and governance standards. The Ministry organized broad consultations on the mapping process and validated the mapping results with all development partners. The results of the ODA-SDG mapping for 2021 reveal that the ongoing portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation includes 372 projects in various sectors worth $26.5 billion, which are mostly directed to achieve Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) worth $5.9 billion in development financing, constituting 22.3% of the total current portfolio, and secondly, Goal 6: (Clean Water and Sanitation) worth $5.3 billion in development financing, constituting 20.3% of the current portfolio, and third, Goal 7 (Clean and Affordable Energy) worth $4.6 billion, constituting 17.5% of the current portfolio.

To promote knowledge-sharing between emerging economies and countries in the South, Egypt documented its experience in stakeholder engagement and ODA-SDG mapping at the London School of Economics by presenting the results of the mapping on the Ministry’s interactive website.

The ODA-SDG mapping is retold visually by allowing users to track the progress and projects being implemented for each of the global goals, while exploring the number of projects and partners involved per project across the governorates. 

As for the third pillar of economic diplomacy, the Ministry of International Cooperation is focused on enhancing transparency, advocacy and knowledge-sharing through sharing the human stories behind development projects to hinge on deeper connections with the project’s beneficiaries. The stories produced by the Ministry of International Cooperation with development partners can be accessed through the QR code. Four Main Areas of Work:  (People-Powered, Green, Private Sector Engagement and Partnerships for Progress)

First and foremost, a people-powered economy revolves around the end goal of enabling people to become the architects of their own future and reality, and building their resilience to become more adaptable to future risks or disasters. The annual report also presents Hayah Karima (Decent Life) initiative as a model for localizing global agendas and the sustainable development goals, and that the Ministry of International Cooperation held multi-stakeholder platforms with other development partners and government agencies to discuss ways to foster dialogue and deliver results within the initiative. 

To achieve this, the Ministry of International Cooperation secured $2.369 billion in 2021 to achieve social sustainability through several projects that include health, education, agriculture, gender equality, empowerment for rural youth, and SMEs.

No issue looms larger on the global stage than climate change. To sustain the momentum on climate change and ensure swift and urgent action, the report showcases the Ministry’s efforts in leveraging innovative finance and mobilizing $379 trillion, which accounts for just 1% of global assets, as per the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to bridge the persistent financing gap.

The role of innovation and entrepreneurship is indispensable for the future economy, as rising uncertainties necessitates the need for new solutions that break away from past techniques and traditional tools of operation. To promote innovation, digitalization and entrepreneurship, the Ministry of International Cooperation’s portfolio includes 36 projects worth $1 billion contributing to 11 SDGs focused on innovation, digitalization and entrepreneurship. 

The private sector is also viewed as a major agent of change in society, which is why Egypt’s vision rests on opening up prospects for the private sector’s participation in development. The annual report outlines how international partnerships do not target merely the public sector, but also the private sector, which received funding of about $4.7 billion during 2020 and 2021 from international international institutions.

To fast-track the implementation of the SDGs through strong global partnerships and cooperation, the annual report outlines the details of the Ministry’s efforts to coordinate with all stakeholders and reflect the local 2030 vision in development partnership strategies, which includes strategies with the EBRD, African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the United Nations. 

The report concludes with the Egypt-International Cooperation Forum’s Communique, which proposes an inclusive model of cooperation that galvanized renewed commitments, champions innovative sources of finance, and promotes effective and efficient monitoring frameworks to implement policies realistically on-ground.