Egypt hosts event on APRM’s report

CAIRO – The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday hosted an event at its headquarters on the release of a periodic review report on Egypt under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

This comes after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had a meeting on Monday with an APRM delegation, headed by Chief Executive Officer of the APRM Secretariat Edward Maloka in the presence of Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

The event was attended by heads of African diplomatic missions and envoys of international organizations in Egypt, representatives of civil society, academic and media authorities, lawmakers and a host of respective officials.

Assistant Foreign Minister Soha Gendi said the APRM is one of the most important mechanisms of the African Union, noting that the mechanism assesses the application of international and continental standards on human rights, wise ruling and sustainable development in African countries.

Ambassador Hamdy Loza, deputy foreign minister for African affairs, said Egypt is keen to back the APRM, lauding the government’s efforts on economic reforms and combat of corruption to improve the economic and social conditions of citizens.

During his meeting with the delegation, Sisi praised the role played by the APRM in supporting development efforts in the African countries, enhancing democratic principles, and following up the countries’ implementation of their development strategies in line with Africa Agenda 2063.

Sisi stressed Egypt’s support to the mechanism as one of its founding countries, welcoming the launch of APRM’s report about Egypt.

Egypt is keen on cooperating with APRM to consolidate principles of good governance and human rights out of its belief in the rights of citizens in enjoying a decent and secure life, a matter which was represented in various health initiatives and the Decent Life initiative as well as the launch of the national strategy for human rights, according to him.

Meantime, the APRM delegation appreciated Egypt’s serious steps in governance at the political and socio-economic levels, especially in youth and women empowerment, lauding the launch of the national strategy for human rights and Decent Life.

The delegation praised Egypt’s pioneering role in Africa to boost the mechanisms of joint African action, provide the necessary support in various forms to African countries in the fields of human rights, administrative work, economic planning, and qualification of human cadres.