Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania El-Mashat, received John Barsa, Head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), during his first visit to Egypt at the Ministry of International Cooperation to expand the strategic partnership between the two sides.
The event was held in the presence of Jonathan Cohen, the US Ambassador to Egypt, Leslie Reed, Director of the USAID office in Egypt, and Sarah McCain, Senior Adviser at the US National Security Council, according to a statement on Thursday.
In 2020, Egypt and USAID signed seven agreements worth $112 million in various sectors, especially health, higher education and scientific research.
To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of EGP 51 million has been provided to support civil society’s efforts such as the Egyptian Red Crescent, which El-Mashat referred to as a model for cooperation between development partners and civil society.
The USAID has delivered 250 “highly specialised” ventilators to Egypt as a donation for intensive care units in the northeastern African countries.
El-Mashat said that cooperation with the USAID reflects the strategic partnership between Egypt and the US, and comes within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to enhance economic diplomacy through three main principles: regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative people & projects & purpose (P&P&P); and mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
“We are pleased to announce that the US is contributing an additional $22.8 million to support economic growth in Egypt and empower women, as part of a five-year agreement to advance economic growth that benefits the nation,” John Barsa, Head of the USAID in Washington, said.
“The US looks forward to continuing our partnership to support effective and transparent public institutions, empower women and youth, encourage cooperation between different religious communities, and ensure all Egyptians benefit from basic services,” he added.
For his part, the US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said, “Over the past 40 years, the US has invested more than $30 billion in Egypt's development. We helped provide water and sanitation services to more than 25 million Egyptians, helped digitise and develop the communications sector, bring electricity to millions of Egyptian homes and companies, preserve historical sites, help farmers, build thousands of schools, train more than 100,000 teachers, and eradicate polio. In Egypt, among other contributions. We will continue our support to propel Egypt into a prosperous future”.
It is worth noting that the historical cooperation portfolio of the USAID in Egypt has exceeded $30 billion since 1978, in various sectors, most notably health, population and education, while the portfolio of projects signed since 2014 amounts to about $800 million, including $72.5 million for the agriculture sector.
