Spain hails women’s empowerment efforts

The Spanish Embassy organised a special function yesterday to mark International Women’s Day by highlighting women’s participation in public life.
The event also highlights the embassy’s efforts towards the attainment of UN Strategic Development Goal 5 – gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Spanish Ambassador to Egypt, Ramón Gil-Casares said in his speech that the theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Women in Leadership’.
“We have today with us Egyptian women who are already serving as inspiration for many others in their field of expertise. The 8th March is, first and foremost, a day for celebration. A day to highlight the role of women in our societies: the contribution of half of the humanity to our shared well-being cannot be disregarded,” he said.
The ambassador said that it is a shared responsibility to acknowledge the women that are opening new paths, that are serving as inspiration and hopefully offer new opportunities to many others in society.
Brave women have fought for their career, their rights and equality and against their odds, he added.
The ambassador also congratulated Egypt, its president and its government for the achievements and the efforts made towards improving women’s rights.
“We can only welcome the decisive gender policy measures taken by the Egyptian government in recent years that go beyond eliminating violence against women to protect and foster women’s economic and political rights” he said.
The ambassador also hailed the work of the National Council for Women and their active role in all this progress.
“There is an increasing number of women in leadership positions in Egypt, such as ministers, secretaries of state, governors, or the president of the National Human Rights Council.”
As for Spain, the ambassador said equality is at the heart of the Spanish constitutional framework.
“Progress towards gender equality has been supported by national institutions, private sector, and civil society in many ways.”
During the event, many female leaders in diverse fields took the floor.
Among them was Amal Tawfik, who is Director of the Complaints Office of the National Council for Women and a leading participant in the RAISA programme of the Spanish International Co-operation Agency for Development (AECID).
The RAISA programme is aimed at fostering women’s empowerment on the African continent and in the Middle East and Northern Africa regions.
The guest speaker was Egyptologist Dr. Yasmin el-Shazly, who is Deputy Director for Research and Programmes at the American Research Centre in Egypt and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the American University in Cairo.
Filmmaker Amal Ramsis, who is the founder of Cairo International Women’s Film Festival and the Between Women Filmmakers Caravan, also took part in the event.
The event also screened short films directed by Egyptian women and produced within the framework of the Between Women Filmmakers Caravan.
The Spanish Co-operation in Egypt pays special attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment and supports Egyptian civil society organisations in their efforts to improve opportunities for women.