Cairo: Mohamed Gibran, Minister of Labour, and Amal Ammar, Chairwoman of the National Council for Women, chaired the ministerial meeting on the strategic partnership framework between Egypt and the United Nations. This was the first meeting of the results group focused on women’s empowerment, held at the Council’s headquarters, attended by Marwa Alam Eldin, the UN Women representative, Shadi Rashid, representative of the Ministry of International Cooperation, and German Haddad, the acting representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Egypt.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the Minister of Labour spoke via video conference, expressing his appreciation for the collaboration between the Joint Facilitation Committee of the strategic framework between Egypt and the United Nations for sustainable development, and all representatives of the UN agencies. The Minister stated that the Egyptian government is striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, working to integrate them into all
its plans and programmes.
The ministry prioritises decent work for all, in line with Goal 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth” and Goal 5 “Gender Equality”, placing “Egyptian women” at the heart of its work agenda. Minister Gibran highlighted the efforts of the “Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment Unit”, established within the ministry and chaired by the Minister of Labour, aimed at economically empowering women, reconciling family duties with work requirements, eliminating all forms of discrimination in the workplace, promoting equal opportunity, and increasing women’s employment rates through the protection and support of working women, providing a safe working environment for both men and women. The Unit and its sub-units target all those subject to labour law and play a broad role in achieving equality in the private sector.
The Minister discussed the efforts of the “sub-units” in the governorates, the policy of enhancing the capacities of labour inspectors, health and safety professionals o
n gender equality concepts, relevant international agreements, and provisions of labour law and related legislation, as well as how to implement them to protect working women, create a suitable working environment, and issue a “gender-sensitive inspection guide” and a national plan “to promote gender equality in the workplace.”
He affirmed that the ministry is working on implementing activities in collaboration with all relevant ministries and partner entities. He cited the ministry’s current discussions on the draft law on domestic workers to provide protection and care for domestic workers, regularise their status, integrate them into the formal labour market, train and qualify them, grant them professional practice certificates, and establish legal relations with employment agencies and employers through official work contracts and legal licences.