An overview of the Youth for Development Initiative activities: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development announces reaching the semi-final qualifiers for the development projects and policy papers competitions at Beni Suef University
09 July 2023
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development has announced reaching the semi-final qualifiers for development projects and policy papers competitions at Beni Suef University.
This is part of the activities of the Youth for Development Initiative, where Dr. Muhammad Alaa, an official of the Human Rights Unit at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and the general supervisor of the Youth for Development Initiative in the Ministry, participated in the effectiveness of the arbitration committees for policy papers and development projects at Beni Suef University.
Dr. Muhammad Alaa reviewed the goals of the Youth for Development Initiative and the criteria for judging policy papers and development projects in the initiative’s competitions. This was for 2022-2023.
Alaa stressed the importance of linking the participating youth's production to the Egyptian state's strategies and development plans. He explained that the program’s main objective is to involve youth in making public policies and preparing implementable development projects. This contributes to youth participation in public work with constructive and advanced ideas.
Alaa praised the efforts of the youth participating in the competitions and the teamwork of the research teams and their cooperation. This resulted in the production of innovative ideas and proposals for public policies on contemporary economic, social, and environmental issues.
Alaa explained that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, in partnership with the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) and the Supreme Council of Universities, is keen to provide all training programs and workshops to enable and qualify young people to prepare successful policy papers and development projects, and to maximize opportunities to benefit from youth ideas and opinions and work to involve them in policy-making and building The New Republic.
Alaa also affirmed the ministry's support for putting youth ideas and initiatives into practice, pointing to a partnership with the Information and Decision Support Center of the Cabinet to revise the winning policy papers in preparation for publishing them within the center's publications and delivering them to decision-makers, each in his field of specialization.
For his part, Dr. Mansour Hassan, President of Beni Suef University praised the role of the Youth for Development Initiative, as the initiative is a translation of the great importance that the Egyptian state attaches to listening to the opinions and ideas of young people and working to benefit from them, and presenting policy papers and advanced development projects that contribute to supporting the state’s general policies.
Dr. Fakhry Al-Feki, Chairman of the Parliament's Plan and Budget Committee, also praised the efforts of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (Supreme Council of Universities), which encourage the spirit of innovation and creativity among university youth and the importance of providing training programs that increase students' creative skills and abilities.
Dr. Hala Al-Senussi, coordinator of the Youth for Development Initiative at Beni Suef University, said that the university provided all facilities for the teams participating in the initiative.
It is noteworthy that the topics of policy papers and development projects included the axes of developing awareness of Egyptian family issues, preparing qualified teachers for the education reform strategy, and integrating people with special needs, in addition to the axes of health, women's empowerment, the environment, agriculture, and the labor market.
The arbitration committee at Beni Suef University was formed, headed by Prof. Gouda Mabrouk - Former Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University, Prof. Dr. Ahmed El-Masry, Dean of the Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Studies, Prof. Dr. Naglaa Bakr, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Studies and Political Science, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Hussein, former Dean of the Faculty of Early Childhood Education and Prof. Dr. Tamer Hafnawi, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.