Manal Awad.. The first Egyptian woman to hold the position of Minister of Local Development

Dr. Manal Awad Mikhail took the constitutional oath before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to assume the position of Minister of Local Development in the new government of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly.

Manal Awad has held a number of leadership positions during her career, the last of which was the position of Governor of Damietta, which she held from September 2018 until this July.

She also held the position of Deputy Governor of Giza for Community Affairs and Environmental Development for 3 and a half years from February 2015 until August 2018, where she handled a number of important files, including civil society organizations, slum development, development of the most needy villages, women’s affairs, literacy, childhood and motherhood.

Dr. Manal Awad obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medical Sciences from Benha University in 1989, then a Master’s degree in Veterinary Medical Sciences from Alexandria University in 1995, and a PhD from the same institution in 1999.

Manal Awad has received a number of scientific awards, including the State Encouragement Award in Agricultural Sciences in 2007 for five scientific research papers, as well as the UNESCO Learning Cities Award in 2017 among the 16 best cities in the world.

During her work in Giza Governorate, Manal Awad contributed to obtaining membership in the UNESCO “Learning Cities” program in 2016, becoming the first city in the Arab Republic of Egypt to obtain membership.

She participated in implementing the first safe city free of violence against women and girls, “SafeCity” in Giza Governorate, in partnership between the National Council for Women and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She then repeated the experiment and implemented the second city in Damietta Governorate.

Dr. Manal Awad was selected as one of the most prominent inspiring women in the Arab world by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

It is credited to Damietta Governorate for winning the UNESCO Learning Cities Award for 2021, among ten cities in the world, selected by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, based on the recommendation of an independent jury that includes international experts.