The ceremony was held at the headquarters of the American Embassy in Cairo in the presence of Mr. John Barsa, USAID director in Washington, who is visiting Egypt for the first time, Mr. Jonathan Cohen, United States Ambassador to Egypt, Ms. Leslie Reed, Director of the USAID office in Egypt, and Dr. Maya Morsi, President of the National Council for Women. The project brings together different stakeholders including Minister of Social Solidarity, and the President of the National Council for Women, in addition to Nidaa Egypt Foundation for Integrated Development and the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) to achieve inclusive sustainable development. It focuses on empowering girls in Upper Egypt, namely Minya and Qena, and its key objectives are related to women’s empowerment, ensuring access to education, health and work; and promoting awareness on cultural diversity among different communities. Al Mashat referred to the important role civil society organizations and the private sector have always been major partners with the Egyptian government as key players contributing to economic growth and social development in Egypt, noting that involving all stakeholders is a key role of the ministry of international cooperation to promote dialogue and strong partnerships. “Our strategic partnership with the Government of the United States and USAID is sustained through forward-looking development programs that push forward inclusive economic growth in line with the Government’s vision. This year, we identified 7 priority sectors and allocated additional financing to execute more projects in health, education, higher education, science & technology, agriculture, governance, and trade,” H.E Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, said. In June, Ministry of International Cooperation, in cooperation with UN Development Program Egypt, AltFinLab and the Neya Foundation, launched the Kemama campaign to fund the production of medical masks in Upper Egypt. Around 34 projects, worth $3.3 billion, are being executed to achieve the targets of gender equality, with the top targeted sectors including health (20%), education (14), and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) (15%). All projects fall under the ministry’s new Global Partnerships Narrative: People&Projects&Purpose to put Egyptian people at the core of every project and implement projects with various stakeholders for the purpose of achieving the targets of the 17 SDGs.