Planning Minister outlines developments, stages of ‘Be an Ambassador’ initiative

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said has met with the work team behind the “Be an Ambassador” initiative to discuss and review its latest developments.

The initiative aims to build national capacities in the field of sustainable development, and has received over 7,000 candidate applications from across Egypt

El-Said said that the “Be an Ambassador” initiative aims to build national capacities in sustainable development, through a series of training courses for various sectors and groups of people.

The minister noted that this will take place in cooperation with various stakeholders, and will include development patterns, and a background on the development of environmental thought in the modern era.

The initiative will take into account the concept of fair and comprehensive sustainable development, as well as the definition of the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs). At the same time, it will include concepts of green and circular economies as mechanisms to achieve sustainable development.

On the initial results of the evaluation process in its two phases, El-Said said that all applications were screened, with the initial recipients being provided with an introductory, dual English-Arabic video to answer questions. 

The evaluation looked at several skills, most notable of which are the degree of self-confidence, the applicant’s self-marketing ability, willingness to learn, and previous scientific, practical and volunteer experiences.

Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), said that the programme is directed particularly at university students, students' union members, and scout members. Graduates between the ages of 18 and 35 are also eligible to apply.

Sherif pointed out that the actual launch of the training programme will take place in February, adding that the programme will include several stages.

The first of these will be a preliminary stage in which the trainee learns practical skills such as self-marketing, negotiation skills, and writing a CV. They will also learn how to formulate a presentation and build a team. These topics will be presented through the NIGSD’s educational platform.

Sherif added that the advanced stage will see trainees exploring the topics and applications of sustainable development, guided by an elite group of skilled lecturers and practitioners.

Participants and their commitment will be periodically monitored through interactive tests, to make them ambassadors for sustainable development in their societies.