March. 17th, 2002

Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak chairperson of the National Council for Women (NCW) opened on Saturday the third conference on women at Menya University.

    Mrs. Mubarak underlined the importance of women's participation in modernizing the society, adding that President Mubarak urged all the state bodies to take part in the modernization process.

    Governor of Menya Hassan Hemeda, on his part, reviewed the governorates achievements in backing the NCW efforts.

    He said he allocated 1500 square meters to set up the permanent headquarters of the council branch in this upper Egyptian governorate.

    He said some 93 projects were implemented in Menya to back supporting mothers.

    On the margin of the conference, Mrs. Mubarak opened an exhibition showing statistics on women's conditions in all the Egyptian governorates.

    Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak said that the modernization of Egypt is an inevitable necessity in view of internal conditions and circumstances at world level.

    Addressing the conference under the title: "Woman and the Modernization of Society," Mrs. Mubarak said that women's day is celebrated every year in honour of generations of women who contributed to national action.

    Mrs. Mubarak said that the mosques and churches to be seen everywhere in Menya governorate are "evidence of a civilization which symbolizes tolerance and amity in Egypt across the ages."

    Mrs. Mubarak said that over the past 20 years, Egypt witnessed visible efforts of modernization to upgrade the infrastructure, services and production and raise the standard of living of the poor classes and complete the tasks of human, economic and social development.

    The human being is the basis of modernization. Hence was the attention given to the issues of education, reading and publication, culture and the media in order to release the intellectual, artistic and scientific creative energies of Egyptians.

    The issue of modernization continues to be a basic national goal that made President Hosni Mubarak consider the task of the modernization of Egypt, the basis of building the renaissance of contemporary Egypt, Mrs. Mubarak said.