* France and the New Arab World
*Soft loan from France
*The tuk-tuk nurse-midwife
France and the New Arab World
The French embassy in Cairo released the declaration by its Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on France and the New Arab World,.during a recent seminar on “The Arab World in revolutionary times”.
Mr Fabius began his address by reminding that: “On 17 December 2010, when street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set alight to himself outside the local municipal office of Sidi Bouzid, no one could know that a shockwave was forming that would change the Arab world.” The question, Mr Fabius stressed, was how France would relate to this new world. Excerpts of his address read as follows:
“Although the Arab Spring has made some spectacular changes, the future still looks fragile and uncertain. In France and Europe, this uncertainty has prompted mixed feelings in public opinion. The democratic ambition has triggered a wave of sympathy, but the risks of political instability, their economic consequences and growing intolerance are to say the least raising questions.
“France is confident about the changes in the Arab world, because we believe that it is always preferable to give democracy a chance. So we are confident, but clear-sighted, because we are aware of the challenges that lie ahead today, tomorrow and in the long term. It is not in our power to guarantee the success of revolutions and we have no right to interfere in the political life of sovereign states. Yet, aware of our responsibilities, it is France’s purpose and duty to actively contribute bilaterally and multilaterally to progress with democratic, economic and societal transitions.
“We will do so while upholding four major principles: rejection of the use of violence against the people, defence of fundamental rights, respect for the multiparty system and the rights of minorities, and the need for extensive reforms to meet the people’s economic and social needs.”
“Yet we will be pragmatic and firm. France is proactive in recognising the legitimacy and diversity of democratic representations and in talking to those who head them.
“The fundamental freedoms—equality before the law, freedom of expression, women’s rights and minority rights—are inviolable. We will pay particularly close attention to respect for women. It is a question of dignity, but also progress for society.”
Soft loan from France
An agreement has been signed between the Egyptian and the French governments, by virtue of which france will provide Egypt with a soft loan to the sum of 50 million Euros.
The loan will be provided in cooperation with the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the German Bank of Construction, and will be used to strengthen the capacity of the Egyptian electrical grid.
The project includes expanding the country’s national electrical grid by 400 kilometres in addition to adding 10 new transmission lines and developing 260 kilometres of standing lines. The loan will also finance ten new power stations and 22 new transformers.
The loan is in consistent with the Egyptian government’s new energy policy which seeks to increase the amount of electricity generated and place emphasis on renewable energy sources.
The tuk-tuk nurse-midwife
With the world population now well over 7 billion, World Population Day, held annually on 11 July, aims to raise awareness and highlight some of the key issues facing an increasing population.
The theme of this year’s World Population Day was “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”. In honour of the day, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Egyptian Ministry of Health held a press conference in Cairo highlighting some of the major issues in Egypt and what has been done to address them.
“Every day, 800 women die around the world whilst giving birth to a child, according to UN statistics,” said UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin in a press release.
Egypt has achieved marked improvement in the last 10 years in matters relating to maternal health, but in some rural or impoverished areas, there are still problems. In Minya, for example, only 58 per cent of deliveries are attended by medical personnel.
A documentary entitled “The Tuk-Tuk Nurse-Midwife: Reducing Maternal Mortality in Upper Egypt,” was showcased at the conference to show how this issue has been addressed.
“A major aspect of maternal deaths in Egypt is not just from a lack of hospitals or personnel, which is also pertinent, but also an inability for patients who live in rural areas to even get to a hospital,” said Dr Alaa Sultan, an official from the Health Ministry.
As a result of this inability to access medical services, rural communities often ask the help of a daya, the traditional midwife who typically has not had formal higher education or Western-style medical training.
To counter this lack of resources, the UNFPA and the Health Ministry began a training programme to train a “nurse-midwife” in Minya to act in place of the daya. Ibtisam El Khouli is the nurse-midwife featured in the documentary.
To access poor areas with lack of roads, Khouli uses a tuk tuk. Women in labor can now call Khouli any time of the day on her cell phone, and she comes to their homes to provide professional medical care. In the unlikely case that she cannot deal with a given complication, she will assist the woman in labour to the hospital while providing medical care along the way.
Currently, Khouli delivers two to three babies a day by herself, which is 730-1,095 babies a year.
Assistant UNFPA representative Magdy Khaled, said that steps are being taken to provide nurse-midwife training programs to all areas around Egypt where maternal mortality is still prevalent.
WATANI International
13 July 2012