Media Contact: Dina Kafafi, dkafafi@pathfinder-eg.org
June 7, 2022 — Today, Senior Official to the Secretary of State in the Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) Katrina Fotovat, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Nicole Shampaine, USAID Acting Mission Director Ms. Margaret Sancho, Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of Social Solidarity, H.E. Dr. Nevine El Kabbag, and Head of the National Council for Women H.E. Dr. Maya Morsy, launched the $39 million, five-year USAID-funded Women’s Economic and Social Empowerment Program, implemented by Pathfinder International, in collaboration with a consortium of US and Egyptian partners.
The Program will work in seven governorates: Cairo, Giza, Beheira, Assiut, Minya, Qena and Sohag, and aims to improve the private sector work environment for women, expand financial inclusion, and reduce violence against women and girls. Through the program, USAID, in collaboration with the Government of Egypt, civil society and private sector stakeholders, intends to promote women’s access to economic opportunities in Egypt through three integrated and mutually reinforcing objectives:
- Improve the work environment for women in the private sector economy
- Expand women’s financial inclusion
- Reduce the socioeconomic impacts of violence against women (VAW)
The program will also contribute to the Government of Egypt’s national initiatives in support of women’s economic and social empowerment, in alignment with Egypt’s sustainable development strategy: vision 2030.
Working closely with market-based partners to develop, lead, scale, sustain, and champion innovative solutions, recognizing the economic and social benefits of gender-inclusive, empowering policies and practices – USAID’s Women’s Economic and Social Empowerment Program is part of the investment by the American people in Egypt’s human and economic development.
For over four decades, the American people have partnered with the Egyptian people to promote an environment where all Egyptian society—including women and minorities— can lead healthy, productive lives. Since 1978, the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested over $30 billion to support Egypt’s economic development, to ensure that future generations will have the tools to succeed.
For more information, contact: Dina Kafafi, Chief of Party.
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Pathfinder International is driven by the conviction that all people, regardless of where they live, have the right to decide whether and when to have children, to exist free from fear and stigma, and to lead the lives they choose. As a global health organization with locally led, community-driven programs, Pathfinder supports women to make their own reproductive health decisions. Pathfinder works with local partners to advance contraceptive services, comprehensive abortion care, and young people’s sexual and reproductive rights in communities around the world—including those affected by poverty, conflict, climate change, and natural disasters. Taken together, Pathfinder’s programs enable millions of people to choose their own paths forward.
