The Medicinal Plants Conservation Project had the pleasure of welcoming UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. James W. Rowley, on a three-day visit to Saint Katherine. Also present on the trip Director of the Nature Conservation Sector Dr. Wafaa Mahros, UNDP Program Officer Dr. Amany Nakhla, MPCP Project Manager Mr. Omar Abd El Dayem and MPCP Project Financial Analyst Mr. Mahmoud Ismail. This was a general informative visit that aimed at raising awareness to the guests on the Bedouin community and giving them a first-hand insight to the functions and progress of MPCP's various activities and programs.  

The three days in Saint Katherine included informative visits and pleasant meetings with members of the local Bedouin community and other local employees at the following sights: the Saint Katherine Monastery; the Handicrafts program at the Medicinal Plants Association (MPA) where the visitors had the chance to interact with- and learn more about the local Bedouin community and the women creating valuable handicrafts; the Bedouin marketing outlet store and the activities of the MPA, including information about the products that are being marketed; medicinal plants greenhouses, propagation greenhouses, the living gene bank and the seeds storage room; the local Bedouin medicinal plant shop owned by Mahmoud Mansour; the Saint Katherine Protectorate visitor center and the manager of Saint Katherine Protectorate. Finally, the party made a visit to the public school and its established medicinal plants garden, el Sebayaa School, which is part of MPCP's Green School Program where they had an enjoyable time with the Bedouin children and the staff. Mr. James W. Rawley and the guests expressed positive remarks at the end of the visit towards the MPCP's activities and hoped for a continuous collaborative relationship between the MPCP and the local community representatives and stakeholders.  

UNDP in Egypt

The UNDP is an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP's overall mission in Egypt is to help the Egyptian government in its efforts to reduce poverty and to promote sustainable development policies. Over the past 20 years the nature of UNDP’s support to Egypt has changed and become more focused. This has reflected changes in UNDP worldwide. UNDP Egypt supports activities in four practice areas: Poverty reduction, Energy and Environment, Democratic Governance, and Crisis Prevention and Recovery. In all the activities, the UNDP encourages the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women. Another enormous change has been the move from supporting the implementation of projects by UN agencies to the management and implementation of projects by the Egyptian authorities. Moreover, the UN is working hard to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goals of cutting poverty in half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach these goals, in which the MPCP is taking part by working towards poverty alleviation and gender equality in the Bedouin communities of Saint Katherine.

(Photo to the left is taken at el Sebayaa School: Project Financial Analyst Mr. Mahmoud Ismail is the first from the top left, Project Manager Dr. Omar Abd El Dayem is third from the top left, UNDP Resident Representative Mr. James W. Rawley is seventh from the top left, UNDP Program Officer Dr. Amany Nakhla is first from the top right.)