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Short News March April 2010
The Council received the President of the German Council for Foreign Relations, Centre for Studies, Prof. Eberhard Sandschneider who delivered a lecture entitled "Towards a multipolar world: Germany, Europe, Greater Middle East " on April 8, 2010 . ECFA also arranged for Professor Sandschneider s meeting with the Assistant Foreign Minister for European affairs as well as with members of the Egyptian-European Council.
ECFA received on April 12, 2010 a number of U.S. college students studying in the Middle East as part of the AMIDEAST program, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Mustapha Elwi, ECFA member. A number of ECFA members spoke with the students on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Egypt s positions in this respect. The students raised a number of questions about Egypt s role in the peace process.
ECFA received, Dr. Sasaki Sasaki, deputy director of the Sasaki Foundation for Peace in Tokyo on April 13, 2010 to arrange for a visit by an ECFA delegation to the Foundation in Tokyo in November. The purpose of the visit is to brief Japanese civil society figures and organizations on the situation in the Middle East.
An ECFA delegation visited South Africa during the period from 17 to 20 March 2010, for meetings with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. This comes as a response to a visit by a delegation from the Institute in April 2009 when the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in Cairo. Participating in the ECFA delegation were Ambassador Abdel Raouf el-Reedy, Ambassador Dr. Mohamed Shaker, and Ambassador Ahmed Haggag. Ambassador Mohamed Shaker also participated, at the invitation of the Institute, in the two meetings on preparations for the NPT Review Conference in May. The ECFA delegation also met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of International Cooperation in South Africa.
ECFA members participation abroad:
Dr. Yassin Ayouti represented ECFA at session No. 54 of the Commission on the Status of Women in the period March 1 to 12, 2010 at the UN headquarters in New York. The session focused on the theme of poverty in developing countries and stressed the importance of protecting women from poverty through income support and short-term assistance to families and for childcare. The commission shed light on the problems of poverty faced by women in areas dependent on agriculture and by migrant, disabled and elderly women. It also underlined the gravity of inequality in women s access to economic resources and finance.
Furthermore, the Commission dealt with the subject of training and education, and noted an increase in girls’ access to various stages of education at educational institutions, especially in the elementary stage. It reported that the percentage of girls in that stage increased to 95 girls to 100 boys in 2006 compared to 92 girls to 100 boys in 1999.
ECFA member Dr. Mustafa Hamdi represented the Council at session 53 of the Drugs Commission during the period March 8 to 12 at the UN headquarters in Vienna. The conference addressed many key issues that were the focus of discussions and decisions taken at the end of the session:
Banning the use of drugs is a major concern for individuals, families, youth, as well as government, administrative and criminal justice bodies, communities, and society in general.
Drug taking and its prevention are an issue of public health, and should be addressed within the framework of public health and protection. However, efforts must be coordinated through a systematic approach followed by non-governmental organizations which must cooperate with the United Nations.
In this regard, the necessary measures must be taken towards a more comprehensive approach in addition to promoting public awareness about drugs, including the risks associated with the illicit use of drugs allowed by law.
The commission urges Member States, depending on family conditions in them, to develop policy updates for the prevention of illicit use of drugs, especially among young people. In the discussions, Member States were reminded that all aspects of drug supply and demand reduction, and international cooperation, should be addressed in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, international law and the Declaration of Human Rights, in particular, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States, and mutual respect among nations. The United Nations Commission on Drugs also called for strengthening cooperation with related national and regional non-governmental organizations in the implementation of these effective decisions in a timely manner;
The discussions also touched on measures to combat illicit drug trafficking and promote international cooperation and coordination in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and related corruption.
It requested the United Nations and Member States to endeavor to strengthen technical and financial assistance to countries most affected by the drug problem. The meeting also urged Member States to exchange information with other Member States, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and all relevant stakeholders;
The meeting further urged Member States to provide universal access to treatment and care, as well as support for people who suffer from HIV.
Ambassador Abdel Raouf El reedy, the honorary chairman participated, at the invitation of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies , in a conference held in Riyadh on " Nuclear Hazards and Nuclear Facts" from 11 to 12 April 2010.
Ambassador Mohamed Shaker, participanted in a seminar on nuclear security held by the non-governmental organizations group in parallel with the summit called by President Obama on nuclear power in Washington from April 11 to 14, 2010.
Ambassador Mohamed Shaker Chairman of the Board was invited by the President of the UN General Assembly to the Thematic Debate on Disarmament at the UN General Assembly April 19th 2010. Because of the volcano eruption in Iceland, he was grounded in Germany and couldn’t attend
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