Egypt’s NIGSD launches the "Young Policy Makers" program

Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) who is also acting as delegate to the General Governance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) launched on Wednesday the "Young Policy Makers" program.

The "Young Policy Makers" program, which is affiliated with NIGSD was launched as part of the high-level conference of the "Supporting Public and Economic Governance in Egypt" project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD.

The conference takes place on the 8th and 9th of February.

The conference’s opening session witnessed the presence of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Saleh Al-Sheikh, head of the Central Agency for Organization & Administration (CAOA), and Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of NIGSD, and Egypt's representative on the General Governance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

During her speech, Dr. Sharifa Sharif said that NIGSD was able to invest in a large number of young people during the past three years under the umbrella of the "Be an Ambassador" initiative.

She further said that the "Be an Ambassador" initiative has developed into an influential national project based on the idea of empowering youth and educating them on sustainable development.

Sherifa Sherif explained that the initiative took place in November 2020.

 “More than 10,000 college-age people of both sexes applied for it, and they are trained every year. This brings the number that has been trained in the past two years to,300 young men and women from the age group of 18 to 35. These young men and women have been empowered to the highest level,” She added.

Sherif noted that the young trainees underwent three primary stages to empower them and spread their awareness of sustainable development. Additionally, they have been training for about 3 to 4 months.

Sherif emphasized NIGSD’s focus on empowering youth and investing in people, explaining that 60 percent of Egypt's population is under the age of thirty. 

“Youth is the future, and investing in it is the real return for the country”. She noted.

Sherifa added that the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs UN DESA adopted the "Be an Ambassador" initiative to become an international resonance.

Sherif indicated that 2,300 young people who have been trained to enter life-changing experiences have benefited greatly from the Policy Maker Program.

 This program is in cooperation between NIGSD, the European Union, and OECD.

Sherif explained that the Be an Ambassador project is a youth for a youth project. This is because all those in charge of it are young people under the age of 35.