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Egypt, USAID Hold Talks to Approve Women Empowerment Program

Mashat during a meeting with the USAID team in Egypt. (Egyptian government)
Mashat during a meeting with the USAID team in Egypt. (Egyptian government)
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Egypt, USAID Hold Talks to Approve Women Empowerment Program

Mashat during a meeting with the USAID team in Egypt. (Egyptian government)
Mashat during a meeting with the USAID team in Egypt. (Egyptian government)

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat held talks on Sunday with Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Egypt Leslie Reid and her work team.

The meeting was held as part of discussions to approve the Economic and Social Empowerment Program for Women between the government and USAID.

The program aims to enhance cooperation in the field of women’s empowerment and revitalize their role in achieving development, in line with the country’s development vision and the National Strategy for Women Empowerment 2030.

Mashat said empowering women is a key focus in many strategies for joint action with multilateral and bilateral development partners.

“It aims to enhance women’s role in the society and empower them economically and socially, improving their access to economic opportunities and changing the traditional image of their role, which will be reflected in promoting inclusive and sustainable growth.”

The program targets improving the work environment for women in the private sector, increasing the rate of their financial inclusion, reducing improper practices towards them, stimulating high-growth sectors to provide more job opportunities for women, and supporting equality between the sexes to reduce the gap in the labor market, Mashat said in a statement.

She hailed the strategic ties between the government and USAID and their impact on many development sectors.

Mashat referred to the seven grant agreements signed between the Ministry and USAID on November 1, 2021, worth $125 million.

She announced then that the agreements will stimulate the state’s development efforts in the fields of education, science and technology, agriculture, health, economic governance, trade and investment.

They aim to open horizons for women’s participation in various fields to enhance the inclusive economy, increase growth rates, and achieve sustainable development.

Reid, for her part, said that the USAID appreciates its partnership with the Egyptian government in various areas of development through ongoing programs and projects, stressing that empowering women is one of the main goals both sides are working to achieve.

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Arab World

Sudan’s RSF Kill More Than 30 in a New Attack on a Darfur City, Activists Say 

People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Sudan’s RSF Kill More Than 30 in a New Attack on a Darfur City, Activists Say 

People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
People displaced following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a city in the western Darfur region, killing more than 30 people, an activist group said, in the latest deadly offensive on an area that is home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

The RSF and allied militias launched an offensive on el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, on Sunday, according to the Resistance Committees, an activist group. Dozens of other people were wounded in the attack, said the group, which tracks the war.

The RSF renewed its attack on Monday, shelling residential buildings and open markets in the city, the group said. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

El-Fasher, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, is under the control of the military, which has fought the RSF since Sudan descended into civil war more than two years ago, killing more than 24,000 people, according to the United Nations, though activists say the number is likely far higher.

The RSF has been attempting to seize el-Fasher for a year to complete its control of the entire Darfur region. Since then, it has launched many attacks on the city and two major famine-hit camps for displaced people on its outskirts.

The city is now estimated to be home to more than 1 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the ongoing war and previous bouts of violence in Darfur.

The attacks on el-Fasher have intensified in recent months as the RSF suffered battlefield setbacks in Khartoum and other urban areas in the county’s east and center.

Sunday’s violence came less than a week after a two-day attack by the RSF and its allied militias on the city and the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps killed more than 400 people, according to the United Nations.

Last week’s attack forced up to 400,000 people to flee the Zamzam camp, Sudan’s largest, which has become inaccessible to aid workers, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.