First Lady Mubarak asserts support for children with special needs; women's role and the media
Egypt, Culture, 5/16/2000

First Lady Suzanne Mubarak on Monday underlined the need to mobilize efforts and financial and technical support in order to help children with special needs in Egypt.

Addressing a charity organized by Egyptian-British Association for children with special needs, Mrs. Mubarak said those children in Egypt accounted for 43 percent of Children under the age of 18.

"If more Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOS) offered help in the field of social and human development, the world will be a better place to live," said Mrs. Mubarak.

Mrs. Mubarak said that the Association which she leads, the Integrated Care Association, organized a conference entitled "New Dimensions in Education of Children with Special Needs," attended by representatives of the ministries of education, health and population.

Mrs. Mubarak cited steps taken to change school playgrounds and buildings to ascertain safety for those children, in addition to the introduction of updated audiovisual aids. She added that a center for preparing well-trained teachers, administrative staff and doctors was also agreed upon.

"A National Council for mothers and children was established for monitoring the implementation of child integrated programs," said Mrs. Mubarak.

She added that a law was passed on the protection of children's rights to education and social health care services.

"Not a single poliomyelitis case was registered in Egypt in 1999 as a result of a massive campaign aimed at eliminating such a disease," said Mrs. Mubarak.

"Egypt aims to provide effective services and programs for the prevention and treatment of cancer especially as experts assert that prevention is possible for one third of the cases and the other two thirds can be treated successfully provided that they are detected earlier," said Mrs. Mubarak.

"A National Committee was set up in 1996 to work out a program for controlling cancer and eight centers were established," said Mrs. Mubarak.

She added that the government does its best to provide those centers with equipment and medical professionals.

Mrs. Mubarak appealed to the private sector and NGOS to support such institutions.

Last Thursday, Mubarak during the first intellectual forum on women held in Cairo referred to the important role of media in crystallizing the people's thought.

During Thursday's forum, entitled "Media and Woman", Mrs. Mubarak preferred to deal with women's issue at the levels of the television, the radio and the press.

Mrs. Mubarak said audio-visual media form peoples' views and beliefs as regards women's image, adding that the dramatic works on women directly or indirectly contribute to shaping audience awareness on women and the way of treating them.

She noted "Media and Woman" forum stressed the necessity of grappling with the national issues to overcome the ongoing problems facing the society.

"The forum aims at discussing various issues of concern to the Egyptian society, which require the participation of women and men on equal footing without discrimination," Mrs. Mubarak, head of the National Council for Women, said.

The forum, according to Mrs. Mubarak, seeks to assess the actual role of news media, especially in shaping social awareness of women's causes.

The National Council for women suggested to use news media as a means of changing an outmoded legacy of concepts, traditions and misconceptions involving women and their role in society.

At the close of its proceedings Thursday, the first intellectual forum for women stressed the necessity of dealing with women's priority causes, especially in dramatic and entertainment productions, in such a way as to impart a certain message aiming at the progress of women and society.

The forum further recommended using up-to-date techniques in addressing women's causes at the level of news media.

It stressed the necessity of women's participation in establishing the society and resisting the negative side of foreign cultures via increasing media cultural programmes.

Mervat El-Tellawi, Secretary-General of the National Council for Women, said the forum aims at changing the society's view towards women and expanding women's sphere of interests so that they care about the society's issues.

Previous Stories:
  First Lady Mubarak inaugurates Conf. on women and media   (5/11/2000)
  Dr. Sahir Al Qalamawi the all generations Professor   (5/4/2000)
  Address by First Lady Clinton at American University in Cairo   (3/28/2000)

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