Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed took part, on Monday morning 28-3-2022, in the inauguration session of "The Women in Government Forum" held on the sidelines of preparations for the World Government Summit (WGS2022) that will be held on March 29-30, 2022 in the UAE.

The 2nd edition of the forum will bring together more than 100 female leaders and decision-makers from around the world to discuss women's role at WGS and the necessity of empowering the next generation of women leaders inside governments.

The forum is meant to increase women's participation in all government-related activities, along with incentivizing governments to prepare a leading female generation, with a view to upping women's opportunities in leading decision making, as well as top-governmental posts.

The forum will also shed light on women's role in government and discuss how to fully-empower them to hold leading positions in the public sector; a key focus of the WGS.

The WGF 2022 will convene high-level government officials, including Arab ministers of civil service, in ministerial meetings, panel discussions and highlight on a report on the state of Arab administration drafted by top experts and based on interviews with 2,000 civil servants across the region. 

Ohoud Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future and Vice President of the World Government Summit, will inaugurate the forum with a speech reviewing the prospects for the role of women in government under the title "Women in Government and Creating the Future".

The forum will also witness a speech by Mia Motley, Prime Minister of Barbados.

Activities of the Egyptian participation

In her speech, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Saeed said women empowerment is a state high priority, noting that Egypt has launched a national strategy to empower women to comply with the objectives of UN for Sustainable Development.

El Saeed pointed out to a rise in women's political empowerment saying that women representation in the Egyptian cabinet reached up to 24.2 %, while in the parliament it stood at 27 % after it had been just 2 % in 2012.

El Saeed added that for the first time in Egypt's history, three women were appointed as governors, while seven were chosen as deputy governors along with around 50 percent of the Administrative Prosecution Authority members.

She reviewed the state's efforts to include women in the judiciary authorities, citing the appointment of 98 judges in the State Council.

The minister also reviewed the state's efforts to invest in women, noting that several initiatives have been launched to help marginalized women and support small projects for the breadwinners to mitigate the impact of poverty.

Al-Saeed also mentioned the state’s efforts in the field of women’s economic empowerment, noting that the Financial Supervisory Authority issued a decision stipulating that at least one female representative in the boards of directors of companies and bodies working in the field of non-banking public activities, followed by the issuance of Resolution No. (110) for the year 2021 stipulating that the representation of women in the board of directors of companies operating in non-bank financial activities shall not be less than 25%, or at least two members.

In this respect, the minister noted that the representation of women in the boards of directors of nearly a thousand companies and banks increased from 13% in 2020 to 16.7% in 2021.

Al-Saeed concluded her speech by saying, "My father taught me that no matter what position you have reached, you must always strive for excellence."