WATANI International
28 June 2009
Women’s legal rights
The Australian ambassador to Cairo, Ms Stephanie Shwabsky, recently presented a cheque for AUD70,481 (EGP300,000) to the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights (ECWR) to support a programme of activities in the field of women’s legal rights. Australia’s funds will support ECWR’s Legal Empowerment and Aid project, in particular through funding the monitoring of women’s access to legal rights. Egyptian NGOs were first eligible to apply for funding from the Australian Human Rights Small Grants Scheme (HRSGS) in 2007, which provides monetary support to the development of human rights awareness around the globe.
In 2009, the HRSGS will fund projects in 19 countries across the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
Italy scientific
Egypt and Italy have signed three agreements on scientific and technological cooperation. The first focuses on setting up a joint venture for solar energy production, whereas the second involves cooperation between the Egyptian E-Learning University and the International Italian University on human resources development. A protocol on boosting scientific cooperation between the Supreme Council of Universities and the University of Perugia was the third agreement signed. Higher Education and Research Minister Hany Hilal said the agreements were signed within the activities of the Italian-Egyptian Year of Science and Technology 2009.
Egypt: Life in a Picture
The Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt has exhibited the 30 winning pictures of its first photo competition “Egypt: Life in a Picture” in Toulouse, within the activities of the fifth “Le Marathon Des Mots”. This year’s “Le Marathon Des Mots” took place from 11 to 14 June. More than 72,000 visitors attended around 200 readings, debates, and performances organised in more than 20 venues around Toulouse. Every year, “Le Marathon Des Mots” honours a literary and artistic capital inviting writers and artists to present the culture of their capital. After Lisbon in 2005, Barcelona in 2006, London in 2007, and Algiers in 2008, Alexandria and Cairo were this year.
“Egypt: Life in a Picture” was the first photo competition organised by the Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt. The goal was to stimulate and to promote the creativity of amateur photographers in Egypt and to give them the opportunity to showcase their work and to meet the public.
Broadway comes to Egypt
The US embassy in Cairo is organising an evening of American song and dance at the Broadway Musical Review, with excerpts from the legendary musicals West Side Story and Grease. American artists straight from Broadway and a cast of Egyptian singers and dancers are staging three spectacular performances in Cairo and Alexandria. Broadway Musical Review will be at the Roman Theatre in Alexandria next Thursday and at the Cairo Opera House next Saturday. A performance will be held at the Gomhouriya Theatre in Cairo next Sunday as part of the 10th Egyptian International Modern Dance Festival. Broadway Musical Review is a collaboration between the US Embassy, the Cairo Opera House and American Voices, a US arts association dedicated to bringing American music and culture to audiences around the world.
Indian song
“Indian song … love and art” was the topic of a lecture by Abdel-Moniem Khalil hosted by the Maulana Azad Indian cultural centre in Cairo. The lecture tackled the defining features of the Indian song, which make it popular worldwide despite non-familiarity with the Indian language or music. Dr Khalil, who is a professor at the Higher Institute of Arabic Music and is at the same time cultural consultant to the Cultural Development Fund, compared between Indian and Egyptian music, highlighting the common elements between them.
A trip to India
A collection of paintings by Mohamed Abla, who visited New Delhi last December, were on show at the Maulana Azad centre in Cairo in an exhibition entitled A trip to India. Even though Abla’s visit to India was relatively short, it left a strong mark on the artist. Abla says that what attracted him most was the Indian individual, whose footsteps Abla claims to have followed from the Indian temple to the tiny villages around Delhi. He was most intrigued by the manner in which Indians as a race were so humble yet so focused and confident in their attempt to perform on an international level while adhering to their own culture. Abla said he was greatly affected by the vibrant colours and scents of the land.
Long-lasting cooperation
From 4th June until the end of July, the Egyptian museum is hosting a photographic exhibition entitled “Europe-Egypt: A long-lasting archaeological cooperation”, under the sponsorship of the European Union and the Institut Français d’Archaeologie Oriental (IFAO), in cooperation with the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities.
The exhibition, organised by the Czech Embassy in Cairo, is the fruit of close collaboration between more than 15 archaeological institutes in Egypt, some of which have been in the country for over a century. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, EU, Egypt, France, Netherlands, Poland, Portgual, Slovak, and Spain are taking part in the exhibition.
Olive tree
An exhibition of the olive tree in the Mediterranean Basin is ongoing in Cairo, thanks to joint efforts of the French Embassy in Cairo, the Cultural French Centre in Alexandria, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The collection of illustrative paintings introduces the olive tree as a symbol of peace, a vital landscaping element, and a significant tool of sustainable development. The biological evolution and diversity of this legend tree into what it is today is vividly illustrated. The exhibition, which opened on 18 June, runs till 15 July.
Winning projects
The two Egyptian projects “IT and Communication for Literacy”, which targets illiterate women, and “Assessing Biological Diversity” were chosen from among 545 projects from all over the world as the best in innovative and creative electronic content for 2009, by the World Summit Award (WSA).
The two projects were the fruit of cooperation between the Untied Nations Development Programme, the IT and Communication fund in Egypt, and the Egyptian environmental affairs apparatus. WSA is a non-profit activity by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to support innovation in the field of electronic content.
The winners will receive their awards in a celebration to be held in Mexico City from 2 to 4 December 2009.