Nevin Al-Kabbaj “Earth Guards” aims to spread awareness and change societal behavior

Dr. Nevin Al-KabbajMinister of Social Solidarityexpressed her happiness at launching the “Earth Guards” magazine

Noting the importance of the participation of a large group of the private sector, members of Parliament, media professionals, and artists, and stressing that protecting the environment and protecting the land is not limited to one party; Rather, it is an area in which we break down all barriers, whether local or global. In order to achieve one goal; Namely, protecting the Earth.

– The Minister also revealed the measures taken by the state to confront the economic crises, especially recently, in light of the economic transformations taking place in the world that have affected all countries. As a result of successive crises, confirming that the social protection file receives great attention from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The Minister indicated that through this file, 400,000 new families, representing 1,700,000 citizens, were included in the cash support program under the Solidarity and Dignity Program.

Al-Kabbaj added that Takaful and Karama covers 4 million families, with 17 million citizens – so far – stressing that this number is likely to increase in the coming months.

What is happening in the Ministry of Social Solidarity deserves praise, and indicates a major boom in the ministry.

Tell us about the ministry’s strategy in detail?

– The Ministry of Social Solidarity’s basic message is that it invests in developing human capabilities, especially in the most vulnerable groups. We are currently talking about sustainable development, which is closely linked to the sustainable environment. If we talk about any project, we address it from all aspects, environmentally, health-wise, and in terms of food security, in addition to the culture and security of the citizen, and many other topics whose combination results in achieving opportunities for investment and sustainability together. Therefore, the Ministry of Solidarity is concerned with more than one file, including: The most important of which are topics related to the lives of the poor and improving the quality of life, and part of improving it is improving the environment in which this individual lives, and we also have an important aspect of civil society, and other topics.

Why launch the magazine“Defenders of the Earth”?

– In order to protect this land and develop it as God Almighty has assigned us; Building the earth is the responsibility of every human being, and at the launching ceremony ofmagazine“Earth Guards” there was a gathering from the private sector, members of the House of Representatives, media figures, and artists. I believe that protecting the environment and protecting the earth is not limited to one party, as it is the field in which we break all barriers, whether local or global. Therefore, we are also talking about Egypt’s international relations related to protecting Egypt’s environment.

The Ministry of Solidarity is concerned with more than one issue related to the environment, and we salute the conscious and wise political leadership. To take a decent life as a title for every citizen living on the land of Egypt. How will he live a decent life if he does not live a clean life, breathe clean air, use healthy products, and preserve agricultural land? For a sustainable goal for future generations, and this is what the President was fully aware of, and hence the directives to move slum residents from an unsafe and unclean environment to developed areas with many green spaces, and we in the Ministry of Social Solidarity contribute to changing the awareness of these communities, and we contribute to furnishing and furnishing these residential units, and to increasing the number of green buildings, and we contribute to micro-projects; To contribute to the green economy.

You mentioned your contribution to the development of slums. Tell us about that contribution?

– After the development of slum areas, we entered into a decent life or what is called the “Project of the Century.” Because its goal was to reform the entire system of the Egyptian countryside. Because our countryside has a lot of wealth. The governorates have wonderful natural resources, which we see clearly in Sinai, Marsa Matrouh, and the New Valley. We have in Egypt the largest area with agricultural land in some governorates, but it has not been exploited sufficiently. We in the Ministry are launching a group of micro-projects with financial facilities, and Nasser Social Bank also contributes with us in providing projects. Such as replacing cars with gas or electricity, and this is what the Egyptian state and government adopted last year in the car replacement initiative. There are also projects related to solar energy that we contribute to. So that we can rationalize our consumption of electricity, gasoline, and gasoline, and use more of the sun; Because we are one of the countries that enjoy sunshine throughout the year, and this is a wealth that God has given us.

Tell us about the file of civil society organizations active in the field of the environment?

– We are working to build a system of civil society organizations specialized in the field of the environment. In order to see which geographical areas suffer from a financing gap, and which environmental sectors need more work.

But, is this gap large in terms of lack of environmental services?

– There are governorates that we can consider “deprived governorates” of civil society specialized in these topics.

Do you mean only the governorates of Upper Egypt or are there other governorates?

– This is present in Upper Egypt and some other governorates in Lower Egypt, and the truth is that we need to support associations by creating a database that is distributed geographically, and in terms of activity and interests, whether those working in solar energy, increasing the area of agricultural land, green buildings, or recycling waste, especially due to the spread of the phenomenon of burning rice straw in the countryside in recent years; Which negatively affects the environment.

But the culture of dealing with straw has changed?

– As technology advances, there are more modern things and means, and we have the part related to increasing the cultivation of palm trees, and we are expanding it with civil associations in the New Valley Governorate. Palm trees are among the crops that produce dates, and they use air buffers, in addition to their climatic role. We work to raise awareness of the citizen’s daily behavior from the beginning of rationalizing the use of water and not renting out agricultural land, and we establish our children from early childhood on respecting issues related to Environment.

Do you think thatMinistry of Social Solidarityis one of the ministries that has a clear vision to participate in the climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh?

– We are working with colleagues in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment, and International Cooperation on the climate conference, and we are concerned with specific topics; Such as civil society participation in environmental sustainability, and we have a special section for volunteers, and we launched an initiative to volunteer 1,000 young people in the environmental fields. With the aim of disseminating this idea to other volunteers, which requires field activity, not just research activity, we will also work to make the conference available to people with special needs. They are not deprived of their rights, such as equipping the place with sign language. This is based on our work to integrate people of determination in an effective and practical manner.

Many segments of Egyptian society have a desire and participation, and the Ministry of Social Solidarity was thinking very carefully about how it could involve the largest segment, and provide the opportunity for people with disabilities and people of determination to participate in the conference. We in the Ministry are working to evaluate the sustainability of the activities of civil society organizations, the extent of the private sector’s participation and social responsibility, and its commitment to what is stipulated in the international agreements and obligations that Egypt has implemented and signed. It is no longer only profitability that governs the private sector, but also its compatibility with social responsibility and environmental sustainability. The truth is that the President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi launched a human rights strategy, which is also a strategy for environmental rights and the rights of every child of future generations on the land of Egypt.

What will“Defenders of the Earth” magazine add to the Egyptian media?

– There are two basic topics,The first topic: is a review of civil society’s experiences in the topics of environmental preservation and environmental sustainability, and how we can see this applied in practice, starting from the local community development associations located in the countryside, all the way to the largest associations in the Republic, and we review the successful experiences.

Second topic:A review of the micro-projects that we implement. They may be very small, but their impact is great on the environment and food security affected by the environment. There is also educating the ordinary citizen; There are many citizens who do not know how to benefit the environment, and I believe that this is our responsibility towards the Earth.

The sustainable performance of the Ministry of Social Solidarity and its Minister in all fields is behind a humanitarian performance. Tell me about sustainability in the life of Minister Nevin Al-Qabbaj?

– Humanity is a great thing, and every human being has a message, and I hope to continue on the path of this message that God and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi have entrusted me with. The President has placed his confidence in me, and I hope that I will be up to the responsibility in performing, and I believe that humanity is not just a word, but rather an impact and imprint that a person leaves in the lives of those around him, whether while I am a minister or even after that; Humanity is a story and a sustainable good work that I have done, and it is also to transform any human pain into hope and into good work and impact.

A final word on“Earth Guards”?

– I hope that“Earth Guards” will succeed in turning the magazine into a daily behavior to protect the Earth; The responsibility is great, and we wish every success and success, God willing.