President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his spouse attended on Monday 20/03/2023 at the Manara International Conferences Center in New Cairo the 2023 ceremony to honor Egyptian women and ideal mothers.

The ceremony was also attended by Senate Speaker Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, Planning and Economic Development Minister Hala el Said, Social Solidarity Minister Nevine el Kabbaj, Head of the National Council for Women Maya Morsi and a number of senior state officials.

The ceremony started with a documentary about the role of Egyptian women and their struggle throughout history since 1919 and until now.

The documentary commended the greater role of women in the heroic scene in 2013.

The film pointed out the constitution includes for the first time ever 21 articles guaranteeing rights of Egyptian women.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and First Lady Intisar El Sisi stood for a photo-op with a number of role models of Egyptian women.

President El Sisi honored ideal mothers and some respectable ladies.

The president was keen on honoring the ideal models of women by shaking hands with them on stage, where they exchanged friendly talk.

Afterwards, a documentary was screened highlighting efforts exerted by the National Council for Women through its participation in the National Project for Developing Egyptian Family in villages of "Decent Life" initiative.

Addressing the 2023 ceremony to honor Egyptian women and ideal mothers, Chairperson of the National Council for Women Maya Morsi said that Egypt has achieved a tangible progress in 33 of the national strategies indicators of women empowerment for 2030 half-term reviews issued by Observatory of Egyptian Women.

She highlighted that in 2022, the number of beneficiaries from NCW exceeded 2 million women from various governorates.

She added that during a period of seven years, NCW achieved 48 million interactions via awareness campaigns that reached to more than 5 million doors.

She asserted that Egyptian woman is proud of her achievements and her ability to reach out to decision-making positions.

Morsi said the Egyptian women are very confident they are backed by a political leadership that believes in women empowerment as one of their genuine rights.

She also thanked President El-Sisi for being the first defender of Egyptian women.

She said Egypt made tangible progress in the 2030 National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women indicators in its review by the Egyptian women observatory.

Social Solidarity Minister Nevine el Kabbaj addressed the ceremony, affirming that Egyptian women are becoming strong by the support of the political leadership and state institutions.

She added that mothers are the best book of reference for principles, good manners and lessons of life.

Then, a documentary was screened highlighting some role models of Egyptian women who were keen on continuing education despite circumstances. 

Planning and Economic Development Minister Hala el Said addressed the ceremony, asserting that women's issues and efforts to empower them economically, socially and politically have become a bright starting point in all axes of the Egyptian state's vision and development programs.

A documentary was screened highlighting all achievements that benefited Egyptian women after the state had adopted the National Strategy for Sustainable Development "Egypt Vision 2030."

It underscored that one of the important goals of the state's action strategy is the achievement of women's empowerment economically, socially and politically.

The film pointed out that millions of women benefited from "Decent Life" initiative and referred to initiatives for training youth to serve the sustainable development process nationwide, spotlighting the unprecedented participation of women in these initiatives to hone their skills.

It reiterated President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's constant support for Egyptian women through empowerment initiatives.

An artistic show was presented by the Egyptian Opera House Children's Choir presented by the Ministry of Culture

After that, a documentary film was shown showing several virtuous Egyptian women and their success stories in facing the pressures of life.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi delivered a speech at the 2023 ceremony to honor Egyptian women and ideal mothers at the Manara International Conference Center in New Cairo.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said: "Since 2013, Egyptian women have played a major role in protecting Egypt. On June 30, they took the lead."

He asserted the importance of the role of Egyptian women in safeguarding the society and the state.

He also said: "When I called on the citizens to take to the streets on June 26, 2013, during the month of Ramadan, to give me a mandate, the women took the lead, inspiring all family members to came out to give me the mandate."

He noted that the women have always endured the difficult circumstances facing the country.

He added that the women carry the burdens of upbringing the children, underlining that giving priority to raising children and educating them is important as this helps in facing many negative phenomena; including bullying and harassment.

The President went on to say: "I am not against men or partial to women, but let's be fair, the women are the pillar of the Egyptian home and take care of it, we should give them their rights." 

He pointed out that "The woman is a highly sensitive person," adding that the man should understand this well and pay better attention to her and her rights ... and deal in a fair way at work with his female colleague and at home with his wife, daughter, or sister.

President El-Sisi said: "If we take care of our children's upbringing, bullying, harassment and other negative social phenomena will end," adding that "Indeed, the woman is the one who takes on most of the familial and household responsibilities and duties."

President El-Sisi explained that in 2013, the Egyptian woman played a major role in safeguarding Egypt, adding she took the lead on June 30, when he asked the Egyptian people to give him a mandate to confront terrorism.

El-Sisi said: "The whole world saw then these large numbers of women that went down to the streets and public squares and realized that the issue is not a movement of the army, but rather that of the Egyptian people who were voicing their rejection and that the army just supported the popular protest."

He added that the most difficult matter for a mother is to hear the news of her son’s martyrdom as a sacrifice for the homeland, stressing that women have always endured crises and hard days facing the country.

President El-Sisi cited a text of Quran, in Surah Luqman: “We enjoined upon man to be dutiful to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness upon weakness.”

In support of the Egyptian women, President El-Sisi issued a number of directives, instructing the government to do the following:

- To promote the women's representation in the boards of directors of governmental bodies, business sector companies and their subsidiaries.

- To expand training programs in the technology and digitization domains, with the aim of increasing opportunities for women's empowerment and participation in future jobs.

- To support digital savings and loan packages, in the national project for the development of the Egyptian family, and other development programs via building the women's capacities

- To implement small green projects and sustainable income generating activities (IGAs).

- To carry out a presidential decree to release all indebted women and men from the reform and rehabilitation centers of the Interior Ministry ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.

Minister of Justice Amr Marwan highlighted that the annual divorce rate in Egypt reached 34 percent.

He explained that after discussing the issue upon President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, we found the annual divorce rate stands at 3 percent.

The minister said he discussed with Egypt's Grand Mufti the issue of documenting divorce cases to make sure of their numbers.

He added that upon the directives of the president we are introducing a new draft law for Egyptian family coping with the modern era to strike a balance between the rights of men and women.

For his part, Egypt's Mufti Shawqi Allam stressed Egyptian women made unprecedented success in the era of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

He pointed out that Sharia (Islamic laws) grant women all their legitimate rights.

The mufti asserted that Egyptian women have gained the prestige and respect they deserve, which encouraged international institutions and organizations to commend measures taken by the political leadership to support women, saying: "We are not exaggerating to describe President Sisi's era as the golden age of Egyptian women."

Allam said the state, represented in its executive bodies and institutions have launched many initiatives for achieving goals of women at the levels of health and economic and social empowerment, in addition to raising social awareness about women's pivotal role nationwide.

He also pointed out to the launch of the National Strategy for Combating Violence Against Women.

Confirming the words of the Minister of Justice Omar Marwan, President El-Sisi stressed that the State, through the Family Support Fund, is seeking to address the problems and challenges in the Egyptian society.

El-Sisi further noted that during his conversation with the head of the Administrative Control Authority five years ago, they discussed ways to protect the Egyptian family in case of the death of its breadwinner.

He explained that the Family Support Fund is a safety-valve for families at risk of divorce and financial strife, with children who are then subject to instability, adding that the Fund is a way to preserve the rights of all parties involved.

He asserted that the state undertakes the duty of establishing systems and work mechanisms that serve the interest of the society, address all its problems and find effective solutions to them.

He added that religion has never been a problem for people, "however the problem lies in our understanding of religion and our way of practicing it."

Referring to the issue of the Family Support Fund, the president said he believes that the fund's resources should range between EGP 40 to 50 billion, urging: "We want the fund to be financially strong for it constitutes a social guarantee for our families." 

At the end of the ceremony, the national anthem of the Arab Republic of Egypt was played.