13 December 2006

Cairo, Egypt: The 8 boats participating in a ‘Sailing the Nile’ campaign reached their final destination in Cairo last Thursday. The fleet had sailed down the Nile with stops in eight Egyptian towns to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and MDG projects involving volunteerism. Several events promoting the MDGs and celebrating International Volunteer Day – (IVD 5th December) continued from Thursday until Saturday.

The grand final also served as an occasion to launch the new UN Development Assistant Framework (UNDAF), a key development agenda which will guide the work of all UN agencies in Egypt for the next five years.  UNDAF was officially launched, on Thursday, by the Deputy Minister of International Solidarity.  in the presence of Mr. James W. Rawley, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, and  Mr. Ad de Raad, UN Volunteers Executive Coordinator.The inauguration was attended by about 40 representatives of the national press, UN heads of agencies, key governmental and civil society partners and representatives from multilateral and bilateral organizations.

In his speech, Ad de Raad pointed to the contribution of volunteerism to achieving the country priorities, as is indicated by the new Development Framework. “Much more than a descriptive document, the UNDAF is in fact about capturing the aspirations of the people of Egypt to realize their full potential and to benefit from the expansion of choices in their lives”, he said.
Praising the Sailing the Nile project, he called it “a very unique demonstration of what in essence is ‘for the people and by the people’ and what true citizen’s engagement through voluntary effort can bring to bear.”

Thursday’s events concluded with apublic screening of seven short movies on the role of the MDGs for Upper Egyptian communities. An expert panel exchanged views on  the films with an audience, of students and young film-makers.

Events continued on Friday in the Al Jeriza Garden, a park stretching along the Nile.
 Two local Non Government Organization groups (NGOs), Better Life and ADEW, organized puppet sketches for children which playfully informed about the MDGs. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were taught how to prepare puppets from recycling material and conduct plays themselves. A group of students came from the Southern Egyptian town Aswan to perform an MDG play.
17 volunteer involving organizations and 12 UN agencies presented their work in an exhibition area and were joined by a group of UNHCR supported refugees, who spontaneously performed a dance.

On the boats, sixteen top MDG campaigners from around the world engaged in debates on youth volunteerism with young Egyptian students of the Lead Programme of the American University of Cairo, UNV volunteers and members of civil society organizations. The discussions resulted in three action plans for youth involvement in the areas of gender, maternal health and partnerships.

Throughout the day, documentary films about various developmental topics related to the MDGs and volunteerism were presented. The Friday activities concluded with a concert by the Egyptian band Resala and singer Basheer.

On the last day, activities included the engagement of the private sector for development with 
 Vodafone and P&G, the key private sector partners of the campaign, sharing  their experiences with Egyptian companies. Also on Saturday, more than 300 children holding up the MDG symbols, participated in a volunteer parade along the Nile, headed by a “poverty monster” .
Young actors and actresses from Qena, Cairo and Assiut performed plays tackling important issues such as early marriages, women empowerment, HIV and poverty.

The events were complimented by four exhibits on volunteerism, the UN family in Egypt, the MDGs and the campaign itself. Several UN agencies set up booths informing the public about the developmental work of the UN and its partners in Egypt, while the project “Think Twice” and the NGO “Nahdet el Maharousa” exhibited outstanding photographs of young Egyptians engaged in Human Rights projects.
Lastly, all local committees involved in the “Sailing the Nile” campaign documented the events that took place along the route in Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Sohag, Assiut, Minia, Beni Suif and Cairo.

For 2006, the campaign has ended, but the organizers expect that this initiative may become a yearly festival celebrating peace, development and volunteerism in Egypt.

'Sail the Nile' campaign homepage