‘Rowing the Nile Challenge’ starts its journey in Egypt's Aswan city

Ahram Online , Wednesday 28 Sep 2022

Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) announced on Wednesday the launch of the second edition of the ‘Rowing the Nile Challenge’ initiative from Upper Egypt's Aswan city to the Damietta city of Ras El-Bar in efforts to raise awareness on multiple environmental and socio-economic issues.

The rowing team, which comprised several young men and women across Egypt headed by rowing champions Hatem Kandeel and Ibrahim Ayoob, is set to pass through governorates including Luxor, Qena, Sohag, Assiut, Minya, Beni Suef, Cairo, Qalioubiya, Daqahliya and Damietta, a statement by UN Women Egypt said.

The goal of the initiative is to draw attention to multiple separate environmental and socio-economic issues. This is because, for this year, the project is partnered with various entities. The NCW’s ‘Ta7wisha’ application, which was launched in March 2022 to offer savings and loans, aims to financially empower women across Egypt’s governorates and rural villages.

The initiative is in line with the National Family Development project, which aims to increase Egyptian women’s financial inclusion, particularly in decentralised territories, with the focus on women’s social empowerment.

Its target areas include similar terrestrial coverage to presidential initiative Decent Life, which aims to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and services and targets 58 percent of Egypt’s 103-million population who live in 4,658 villages across the country.

The challenge, which started on Thursday, will last for 30 days during which Ta7wisha’s programme officials will emphasise the goals of its programme, the UN Women said.

Taking into account the country’s approaching climate change conference COP27, the Rowing the Nile Challenge also strives to draw attention to the importance of protecting the Nile and Egypt’s rural villages in order to save the environment and promote better quality of life for its residents, said the statement. The programme aspires to provide both environmental and economic projects to work hand-in-hand in developing Egypt’s rural regions.

Finally, the challenge is considered crucial to emphasising sports as pivotal to empowering women and girls in Egypt’s governorates and villages.

This initiative was made possible through the help of the Central Bank of Egypt, UN Women Egypt, the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and e-finance.