Egypt's Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Rania el Mashat had talks with Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen to discuss efforts to boost partnership with the private sector.

During their meeting, which took place on the sidelines of activities of the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future in New York, Mashat praised strong Egyptian-Canadian relations.

The two ministers discussed bilateral cooperation in the areas of empowering women and youth, efforts to enhance partnership with the private sector, and support climate adaptation projects.

They also discussed cooperation in the field of gender equality, underlining Egypt’s National Strategy for the Empowerment of Women 2030, and joint programs to back family planning efforts.

In a separate meeting, Mashat met with Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility Vera Songwe to discuss 
the facility’s efforts to support development in African countries and challenges facing the continent, particularly climate change and geopolitical tensions.

The two sides stressed the need for reforming the global financial structure to facilitate access to funding from international institutions and multilateral development banks for African countries.

The meeting also touched on the UN Global Initiative "Generation Unlimited" and its Egyptian version "Shabab Balad" (Youth of the Nation).

They also stressed the importance of drumming up international support for the initiative to hone youth skills and expand training programs aimed at increasing job opportunities.

MENA