Egypt's NIGSD holds 5th webinar on social, economic impacts of COVID-19 on African women

CAIRO - 14 October 2020: Egypt’s National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) has held a fifth meeting to discuss how African women are being affected in the face of the social and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.

The two day meeting was attended by Ambassador Wafa Bassim, who has recently been elected to the UN's Human Rights Commitee, and Hanan Rizk, Director of the Training Network for Management Institutes in Africa (Tanmia).

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said said that the meeting comes as part of a series of interactive distance learning sessions and continuation of the training efforts by the NIGSD, which are provided across Africa through a network Training for management institutes in Africa (development).

On the training network for management institutes in Africa "Tanmia", El-Said added that it launched an initiative to establish an African network of management and training institutes during the first African Forum on Governance and Development in April 2019.

This initiative came in conjunction with Egypt’s presidency of the African Union, and work to consolidate Egyptian-African relations. It also works to serve as a unique platform connecting all African countries through training and management institutes, coordination, exchange of experiences and interaction between them and the formation of effective partnerships, whether these institutes are governmental or non-governmental.

El-Said added that the network aims to exchange experiences in the field of training state workers across Africa, and to ensure the spread of governance principles at the national and African levels. This network will also play a role in achieving sustainable development strategies in line with the Egypt Vision 2030 and Africa's Agenda 2063.

Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of Egypt’s National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) referred to the network’s areas of concern, which are training government agencies, governance, and sustainable development.

On the vision of the network, Sherif added that it is characterised by the efficiency and effectiveness of management and training institutes, which contribute to providing the best services to every African citizen. The network’s mission is to provide integrated support through the establishment of a regional cooperation platform that works to support African management and training institutes to play an effective role in achieving the continent's goals African 2063.

She said that the webinar, which saw the participation of 53 trainees from 19 countries across Africa, included several discussion points, namely the social impacts in terms of gender equality, social protection, and gender-based violence. Also on the table of discussions were the economic impacts in terms of income and poverty.