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Promoting Women's Role in Society |
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- Building a "Girls Center" equipped with: a gym, a swimming pool, a meeting hall, billiards tables, and a library furnished with computers connected to the internet. - A girls' football team was formed in a challenge to the constraints imposed on Upper Egyptian girls. The team competed in Arab championships, and was able to win prizes in April 2003 in the Arab Championship held in Jordan. The team also beat the American football team which was visiting the governorate of Alexandria in April 2004. - Specifying one day in the City Cinema for ladies and girls. - Celebrating the Rural Woman Day on the first of October with the attendance of representatives from all governorates. - Issuing national identity cards for almost all women in Qena: Nearly 446 thousand cards were issued, 18 thousands of which for originally unregistered women; i.e. who had no registered birth certificates. All this work took place within a record period of not more than a month and a half. It is expected that such an accomplishment would play a major role in raising the political awareness for women, and would definitely influence the coming elections, particularly if it relied on the use of the national identity card. |
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Providing An Alternative for Building on Agricultural Lands: |
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There is no way to prohibit building on agricultural lands without providing an alternative. Thus, the Governorate started a project to build new villages in the desert hinterland of old existing villages, approximately 4 to 5 kilometers far from Qena. A craftsmen city was established between every two villages. Consequently all workshops are expected to be gradually transferred outside villages or cities. Land plots in the new villages are planned for distribution and sale to farmers. The income of selling such lands will be allocated for providing utilities and services in accordance with the integrated plan to supply villages with utilities, services, schools, hospitals, ambulances, fire stations and paving of roads connecting between villages. This inevitably is going to lead lo the reclamation of desert lands surrounding the villages to provide green areas for raising sheep and cattle. Thus, the spaces between villages will turn into green areas. There are expectations that within 40 or 50 years time, 1000 km square will have been reclaimed; and that Qena will have the first modern agricultural society in Egypt. |
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Disseminate Environmental Awareness: |
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- Holding seminars and workshops on environmental affairs. - The implementation of environmental projects in cooperation with the British Department for International Development (DFID), represented in its program titled: "Support for Environmental Assessment and Management (SEAM)". The most important outcome of the program was the production of Qena Environmental Profile. Inauguration of Environment offices in cities and villages. Celebrating the World Environment Day in Qena. |
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Ensuring the Sustainability of Beautification and Development Efforts |
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- The Documentation of development projects in accordance with the International Standards for Environment Management ISO 14001: All development projects implemented in the governorate were documented, as regards the goals set, the plan required for achievement, and the projects executed and monitored. o In cooperation with DFID, the Qena Environmental Profile was produced, and work is currently in progress to develop an integrated strategy for solid waste management, and to develop the governorate Environmental Action Plan (GEAP). - An organized clear plan was implemented to complete the development process and avoid fragmenting the finance allocated from the state budget. No street was paved except after the installation of all required utilities. - Completion of the infrastructure was considered a perquisite for completing the paving process, to avoid the lack of coordination between governmental bodies that occurs in various governorates; and which often resulted in recurrent unnecessary digging and a gross waste of funds. Thus, the starting point was complete renewal of the infrastructure, to ensure that no pavement will need renewal once again before at least five years. - Continuous maintenance of street lights and lamps, to avoid the rare instance of a non-functioning lamp in the city. - Forming maintenance groups for all specializations, such as maintenance of electricity poles, drinking water support, sanitary drainage networks and pavements and curbs. - Quick implementation by increasing the efforts exerted and voluntarily increasing the working hours in all offices and government bodies which led to fostering credibility in the governorate abilities, and thus the Governorate potential for receiving extra funds. |
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