Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, participated this evening in the activities of the National Conference to announce the winning projects of the third cycle of the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, attended by a number of ministers, governors, members of the House of Representatives, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the Sustainable Development Agenda, Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, and Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, in addition to representatives from several UN organizations, international institutions, the private sector, civil society, and development partners.

The conference began with a welcoming speech by Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation, followed by a presentation on the third cycle of the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, delivered by Ambassador Hesham Badar, the initiative's General Coordinator. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN Special Envoy for Financing the Sustainable Development Agenda, then gave a speech about the Sustainable Development Goals.

After that, recorded interventions from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates, Local Development, Communications and Information Technology, and Environment were broadcasted, highlighting their ministries' efforts in activating this initiative related to smart green projects.

They discussed the projects and initiatives launched that serve the goals of the national initiative. There was also a contribution from the Chairwoman of the National Council for Women regarding the Council's efforts in this area.

Following this, the names of the "Governorate Ambassador" projects were announced, which included sectors such as sustainable buildings and smart cities, green circular economy, new and renewable energy, bio-waste management, sustainable tourism, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and reducing emissions and global warming.

Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, then delivered a speech on localising sustainable development and the Egyptian government's commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the events, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation launched the second edition of the reports on localising the Sustainable Development Goals at the governorate level.

In this context, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat indicated that localisation involves translating the Sustainable Development Goals into executive actions that fit the local context, which includes raising awareness of development goals and monitoring progress towards achieving them, while emphasising the principle of leaving no one behind.

Dr. Mona Essam, Assistant Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Sustainable Development Affairs, noted that the same methodology for ranking governorates used in the first edition was applied, allowing for the analysis of progress or regression in various indicators and comparing their performance with other governorates, as well as understanding their position within the national context.

Key developments in the second edition of the localisation reports were also reviewed, highlighting that the first edition measured performance at the indicator level only, while the second edition used a methodology developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to calculate a composite index measuring the performance of the governorate at the level of each Sustainable Development Goal.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation developed an interactive dashboard on Sustainable Development Goals indicators at the governorate level.

This dashboard serves as a digital interactive platform for displaying and analysing Sustainable Development Goals indicators at the governorate level and helps keep governors and policymakers regularly updated with the latest data, thus enhancing evidence-based policymaking and the overall localisation of Sustainable Development Goals in Egypt.

Following the presentation, Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, delivered a speech on sustainable development programmes.

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation, then spoke, reviewing the state's efforts to transition to a green and sustainable economy.

During the conference, it was noted that the total number of projects that applied for nomination in the current cycle reached 5,731 projects from all governorates of the republic.

Cairo Governorate ranked first in terms of the number of submitted projects, with 1,056 projects, followed by Alexandria Governorate with 403 projects, then Giza Governorate with 386 projects. Beheira Governorate came fourth with 351 projects, followed by Aswan Governorate with 275 projects.

The National Initiative for Smart Green Projects aims to ensure competition among the submitted projects in each category individually, to guarantee equal opportunities for all participants in the large-scale projects category, the medium-sized projects category, the local small projects category (Decent Life), the projects submitted by startups, as well as developmental projects related to women, climate change, and sustainability, and non-profit community initiatives and contributions.

The winning projects at the national level were also announced, which included categories for small local projects, developmental projects related to women, climate change, and sustainability, non-profit community initiatives and contributions, projects submitted by startups, medium-sized projects, and large-scale projects.