Minister of Social Solidarity Maya Morsy received the new Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Yves Sassenrath, during his first visit to the ministry after assuming his new role. The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between the Ministry and UNFPA while exploring opportunities to expand plans and programmes. Discussions centred around joint initiatives on population issues, a key priority for the political leadership, aimed at enhancing population quality through a holistic development approach. They also reviewed potential collaboration to raise health awareness in communities, aligning with the broader goals of sustainable development. Moreover, the meeting addressed collaboration in developing an integrated social protection map, combining support and empowerment within a comprehensive vision for the social protection system. It highlighted the ministry's initiatives to create an enabling environment, such as opening nurseries to support women's ability to work and contribute to the care economy. The importance of having robust databases to provide a comprehensive vision for decision-makers and attract investments was also emphasized. Additionally, the meeting discussed the Tahweesha digital savings and lending programme, a joint initiative of the National Council for Women and the Central Bank of Egypt. The focus was on human development, economic empowerment, and proposed mechanisms for supporting the middle class—a key segment of society capable of making a meaningful contribution to achieving growth and comprehensive development. The Minister of Social Solidarity expressed her happiness with the meeting, highlighting the strong strategic relationship between the ministry and the UNFPA, and the importance of enhancing coordination and integrating efforts in shared areas of work, particularly the Mawadda program, human development interventions, and specific initiatives related to population issues. For his part, Yves Sassinrath, the new Resident Representative of the UNFPA, expressed his pleasure with the meeting and his eagerness to strengthen cooperation with the ministry in the coming period. He also outlined the UNFPA's work plan and interventions as part of the presidential human development initiative, A New Beginning for Building Human Capacity, which includes the Mawadda programme.
