The beauty of the story of a development project is not just felt through the lasting impact it creates, but also through the process of how different actors are collectively coordinating and envisioning a sustainable future through one common strategy, one dialogue and one purpose.
As promises need to be delivered, promoting project stories have now become more important than ever to mobilize action and inspire the replication of these projects to other countries and communities. These projects are not just stand alone achievements, but reflect the growing need for a nexus approach to development to create impact across a range of interconnected sectors and SDGs.
Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation (MOIC) and CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) are collaborating on a new global advertising campaign, Building Forward: Stories from Egypt, which highlights the country’s international partnerships for sustainable development. It illustrates Egypt’s collaboration with bilateral and multilateral development partners and international financial institutions that fosters multilateralism to push an inclusive, digital and green economy.
The films come under the Ministry’s Global Partnerships Narrative - the third core principle in economic diplomacy - which aims to showcase Egypt’s success stories in development through film and content storytelling to inspire action, foster engagement with global and local audiences and put Egypt’s story of development on the world stage.
In line with the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to bolster Egypt’s multilateral cooperation through country-led frameworks, the Ministry of International Cooperation has been keen on pushing the frontiers of collaboration through the three principles of economic diplomacy to effectively deliver the 2030 National Agenda, consistent with the UN SDGs. The principles include: multi-stakeholder platforms, ODA-SDG mapping, and the Global Partnerships Narrative.
Addressing the water-energy-food nexus, the third film presents Egypt’s story in leveraging international cooperation to utilize renewable energy technologies.
As part of its ambitious Integrated and Sustainable Energy Strategy to 2035, which aims to provide 42% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2035, this target is closely linked with affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) but also to many other SDGs, notably on food security and sustainable agriculture (SDG 2), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), climate action (SDG 13), and life on land (SDG 15).
The film presents the story of the Benban solar park, which is the fourth largest solar park in the world, and has been implemented in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation. With 32 private sector companies also on board, the solar park employs more than 10,000 people, and houses over 30 power plants. Since its launch, the solar park has produced more than 1,650 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 1.7 million homes and businesses.
The Assiut hydroelectric power plant provides electricity to 130,000 families in several parts of Upper Egypt, and supports the irrigation of 690,000 hectares each year. On top of this, it reduces harmful emissions by about 147 thousand tons annually.
Situated in one of the best locations in the world in terms of wind speed, the Gulf of Suez Wind Farm, a 540 MW project, is Egypt’s largest and first private wind farm, which provides power supply for 370,000 people and saves roughly 300,000 tonnes CO2 emissions every year.
As the national coordinator of the partnership framework, the Ministry of International Cooperation is currently focused on developing partnership strategies, which includes the new 2023-2027 strategic partnership framework with the United Nations to support the Government of Egypt’s priorities in achieving development in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and taking into consideration the social-environmental dimension.
The Ministry of International Cooperation’s ongoing development cooperation portfolio includes 372 projects worth $26.5 billion in a variety of sectors, prioritizing an inclusive, green and digital economy.