The Ambassador of the United Nations Global Initiative in Egypt “Youth of a Country”, Habiba Marzouk, an Olympic rhythmic gymnast, participated in managing a session on green job skills during her participation in the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change “Climate Summit” in Sharm El-Sheikh within the delegation representing the initiative in Conference.
The joint session between UNICEF and the International Labor Organization shed light on opportunities to enhance the skills necessary to join green jobs in Egypt and Egyptian initiatives in this field, while reviewing international experiences, especially from Switzerland. The session also witnessed a review of the results of an ILO study on green job skills in Egypt.
The session was attended by Dr. Ghada Wali, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, and the former Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity.
The country’s youth ambassador, Habiba Marzouk, co-moderated the session, along with Laura Schmidt, representative of the International Labor Organization.
During her participation, Habiba Marzouk said, “The government and the private sector have a fundamental role in promoting opportunities and skills for green jobs in Egypt, which is an open field for youth participation. Recognizing the opportunities that cooperation between the three components opens up, the Balad Youth Initiative is working to establish the first partnership in Egypt between the public, private sectors and youth.”
In addition to Habiba Marzouk, young artists Ahmed Dash, Amir Al-Masry and Nour Al-Nabawi will participate in the climate summit, as they work to spread awareness of the initiative, and attend sessions and events during the conference, which will be held from 6 to 18 November, to review the views of young people. In the various aspects and effects of climate change and how to deal with it.
The ambassadors also participated in the first meeting of the initiative’s advisory board, which was held on the sidelines of the climate summit, marking the beginning of the council’s exercise of its duties as the body responsible for strategic decisions related to the initiative, which represents the first partnership in Egypt between the government, private sectors and youth.
On the sidelines of their participation in the Climate Summit hosted by Sharm El-Sheikh in the South Sinai Governorate, the “Youth of the Country” ambassadors are also making field visits to pioneering climate-related projects in Sinai that are run by young people, with the aim of highlighting the opportunities available to entrepreneurs in this field and to encourage young people to take advantage of these opportunities. Business in the field of dealing with climate change and containing its effects.
“Shabab Balad”, which was launched during the World Youth Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh last January under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, aspires to be the sustainable national platform for multilateral partners working together to ensure that all youth in Egypt between the ages of 10 and 24 years old are either enrolled in education, employed, have sufficient skills for employment, have entrepreneurial opportunities, and participate positively in society by 2030. The age group targeted by the initiative in Egypt is 28 million, constituting 27 percent of the population.