WATANI International
12 December 2010
Door-knocking in Africa
An Egyptian door-knocking mission, including 25 chemical industries companies, has paid a visit to Uganda and Kenya. The seven-day visit which ended earlier this month was organised under the rubric “Africa is the Future of Economic Growth”, and aimed at raising Egyptian investment in African markets and reaching export deals.
Peacekeeping women
The African Policy Dialogue Forum on Women, Peace and Security, which was recently held in Cairo, issued the “Cairo Declaration” in which it called upon the African Union, the United Nations, and African governments to increase the number of women in peacekeeping forces. The purpose was to protect women in areas of armed disputes. The forum stressed the importance of African women’s participation in rebuilding the community and infrastructure in the aftermath of armed conflicts. This year it was sponsored by the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM).
Power for South Sudan
A EGP158 million Egyptian grant to South Sudan has been used to erect power generation projects. The Bour power station in the State of Jonglei will be inaugurated later this month. Another in the town of Yambiou went into operation last July. Work is underway to operate a third station in Rombik by yearend.
Salva Kiir, First Vice-President of Sudan and the head of the South Sudan government, had last year opened a project to light the town of Waw through an Egyptian-funded power station and distribution network which serve 15,000 families.
Since the 1950s
An Egyptian-Serbian cultural week was held at Prince Taz palace in Shubra, Cairo. The activities included an art exhibition featuring selections of rare treasures of the Yugoslav archive of photographs. Some of these pictures depict Egypt in the 1950s. The week is the first fruit of the cultural cooperation agreement between Egypt and Serbia.
140th anniversary
The Culture Ministry has held a celebration at the Cairo Opera House to mark the 140th anniversary of establishing the National Books and Documents House. The celebration included an international conference on “Egyptian Book House – 140 years of Enlightenment”. Intellectuals from Egypt, the Arab World, Africa and Europe, took part. The conference dealt with a variety of topics, including the Book House’s role in the Egyptian 20th century enlightenment movement, orientalists’ interest in the House and its role in preserving cultural heritage.