Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday the state was keen on paying “special” attention on women while drawing up its policies on handling the coronavirus crisis to spare them the pandemic’s repercussions.

This comes “out of the country’s awareness that women are the most affected groups when such crises occur,” El-Sisi assured during the inauguration of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 8th ministerial conference on women.

The government has earmarked “large” financial allocations to strengthen social protection services provided for women, enhancing measures for protecting them against violence, El-Sisi said.

The country also developed financial and economic policies to further empower women economically and create job opportunities for irregular female workers. It also sought to support women’s health via the related presidential initiatives, he pointed out.

El-Sisi arrived earlier today in the country’s New Administrative Capital to inaugurate the conference.

El-Sisi said hosting the event reflects the attention the country pays to enhance cooperation between the member states of the OIC.

This year’s edition of the OIC conference is themed ‘Preserving the gains of gender equality and empowering women in light of the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.’

The conference’s theme, El-Sisi added, was chosen with the aim of achieving a leap in various work fields related to women’s issues and in order to keep pace with the latest developments in this regard.

The event witnessed the launch of the Women’s Development Organisation (WDO) at its permanent headquarters in Egypt, which will specialise in promoting and protecting women’s rights in all member states of the Islamic organisation.

President El-Sisi asserted that Egypt has spared no effort to support the WDO technically and logistically since its charter entered into effect.

Last month, El-Sisi instructed the government to bear the cost of the annual contributions of all 22 least developed countries to the Women’s Development Organisation, whether they are members or are about to join the organisation. 

El-Sisi, during Thursday’s event, called upon all countries that have not joined the WDO to take the step to achieve with other organisation members the desired progress in different fields to serve the issues of women.

The president said Egypt, during its presidency of the OIC’s 8th conference in the coming two years, will strive to empower women economically, which he described as a key pillar to promoting gender equality, as well as countering the negative impact of terrorism and extremism on women.