Egypt has taken steady steps towards the achievement of equality and the empowerment of women in recent years, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday.

His remarks came during a speech delivered by video to the body on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The event had the theme of “accelerating the realisation of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls."

El-Sisi emphasised that women represent half of society and must be taken care of to ensure the renaissance, reform and progress of society as a whole and to achieve sustainable development.

"Last year, Egypt celebrated a hundred years of Egyptian women’s participation in public life, and it was one of the first countries in the world to set a national strategy for the protection and empowerment of women politically, economically and socially," the president said.

The legislative framework related to women has also been developed by adopting a number of new laws and amending existing legislation, El-Sisi said, and as a result, Egyptian women "will be guaranteed full equality and equal opportunities" and their active participation in the community movement "will be ensured without any discrimination."

Such efforts proved successful, he said, adding that, as a result, women’s representation in the cabinet and the Egyptian parliament has increased to 25 percent, in parallel with their occupancy of senior positions in the judiciary and other important positions, including as a provincial governor and national security adviser.