Egypt: The Minister of Social Solidarity, Nevine el-Kabbaj, has received her Syrian counterpart Louie Imad al-Din Al-Manjad, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour in the Sister Syrian Arab Republic and his accompanying delegation. The meeting discussed ways to strengthen relations between the two sister countries in a number of mutual concerns.
According to recent information, Minister Nevine el-Kabbaj shed light on the areas of mutual interest, such as social and economic spheres, including civil society issues, governance of the donation system, equalization of opportunities for women and people with disabilities, and economic empowerment is the first in care.
In addition to this, Al-Qabaj also emphasized her appreciation for the brotherly Syrian people and the depth of the relationship between the two countries. She also praised the culture of work and keenness to participate in the production processes of the Syrian side and magnify the energies of everyone in order to improve the quality of family life.
Furthermore, the ministers discussed the positive development process that has united Egypt’s civil society, its quality of performance in recent years, its participation in many national projects, and the development of local communities.
Minister of Social Solidarity, Al-Qabaj, has reproduced this development to support the political leadership that led to a community dialogue that includes all concerned groups and the issuance of a law that respects all the rights of civil society organizations.
She further explained her belief in its role in sustainable development processes. This support has been capped by the chest of the Organization of Al-Ahli Work Act No. 149 of 2019 and its executive mandate.
She described the advantages of the law, including strengthening governance processes, the specialized authority reporting on receiving grants within a maximum of 60 working days, diversification of funding sources and facilitating electronic financial transactions.
Along with this, she added the benefits of continuously allowing the receiving of cash or in-person funds from Egyptian or foreign accountants persons from inside and outside Egypt.
It was restricted, not allowing the associations to reach a decision from the general assembly or by judicial order. The law also exempts negative penalties for liberty and compensates for imposing financial penalties (fines) for violating its provisions.
“The law and its executive mandate provide a source of financial aid through the creation of a fund to support community associations and institutions projects, and a central unit of the Ministry of Social Solidarity has also been established, which has the guaranteed capabilities to build a fruitful and lasting partnership between the government and the private sector, in its various components,” said the Minister.
It was also discussed the launch of the Ministry of the electronic platform to organize the practice of Al-Ahli work, enhance the volunteering role in Egypt, and launch the national strategy for volunteering in coordination with the stakeholders, reported sources.
The meeting also reviewed Egyptian efforts to extend social security networks, access to solidarity and dignity to nearly 5 million families, the largest financial support program in the Arab region, reflecting public interest in easing economic crises on primary families in care.
Minister Al-Qabaj sought to highlight the importance of economic empowerment in the Ministry’s current programs, expand small-scale projects, increase the number of exhibitions of productive families, craft and heritage products to reach more than 20 exhibitions annually, and called for the exchange of Egyptian-Syrian products, and holding joint exhibitions in the two countries.
The importance of partnership in the field of vocational training for youth and women, expansion of technical support and non-financial services to include clearance of procedures, licensing extraction and marketing outlets was emphasized, with the importance of education by the necessity of taking into account social protection and security interventions.
For his part, Syrian Minister Louie Imad al-Din Al-Manjad, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour in the Syrian Arab Republic, praised the Egyptian experience of civil society. He noted that civil society has become combining the developmental approach and charitable approach and not being satisfied with the latter.
“We believe in the importance of civil society participation in achieving Sustainable Development Indicators 2030,” said the Syrian Minister.
The Syrian Minister called for a technical visit from Egypt to Syria to enhance the response from the online platform to organize the practice of Al-Ahly work, to hold exhibitions in Syria’s most marketed cities, and to explore opportunities for cooperation on ways of social protection for Syrian workers in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
