Sailing the Nile
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On November 29, 2007, Minya welcomed the eight feluccas (Egyptian sailboats) carrying the logos of the 8 Millennium Development Goals of the UN-led initiative “Sailing the Nile”. This was the sixth stop for the feluccas on their 45 day journey from Aswan in the south to Cairo in the North. Celebrations promoting the Millennium Development Goals, human rights and youth volunteerism lasted for three days ending on World AIDS Day. BLACD was the main coordinator of events in Minya, working with other civil society organizations, the UN and representatives from the Government. |
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The eight feluccas parked along the Minya Corniche |
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A march along the Minya cornice marked the beginning of events. More than 1000 people from local civil society organizations, Minya University, secondary school students participated in the march carrying banners with messages to end poverty in Upper Egypt and raising awareness about the Millennium Development Goals.
Mr. Maher Boshra, Director of BLACD, joined the Governor of Minya H.E. Fouad Saad El Din, the Vice General Secretary Mr. Medhat Salah, the Manger of the Youth Association for Population and Development (YAPD) Mr. Mostafa Thabit, the responsible officer for Youth in the National Party Dr. Zein El-Etnawy, The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood and Actor Nour El-Sherif in an opening conference discussing the achievements of Minya Governorate in reaching the Millennium Development Goals.
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Opening conference on the MDGs in Minya Governorate
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On November 30, youth from civil society organizations in Minya participated in a workshop to learn about the Millennium Development Goals and to discuss the MDGs with relation to Minya Governorate. A camp was organized for school students to gain knowledge about the MDGs. Egyptian Actor and UNICEF Good Will Ambassador Khaled Abu El-Naga led a seminar about the role of the media in dealing with child issues like FGM and child labor. In the open discussion with youth he explained that the media has a big role to play in showing these issues and contributing to a solution of them.
On December 1, BLACD cooperated with UNAIDS to arrange celebrations of World AIDS Day in Minya. More than 500 youth from local associations, Minya University and the Directorate of Youth marched to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS wearing t-shirts and caps with the World Aids Campaign logo. Youth from Minya also gathered in the city’s stadium where various activities took place to raise their awareness of the issues of HIV/AIDS.
UNAIDS volunteers divided youth into small groups and held training sessions which provided basic facts about HIV/AIDS such as ways of transmission and prevention. On stage, Actor Khaled Abu El-Naga and Amr Waked performed a sketch on how to deal with a person infected with HIV and how to obtain correct information about HIV/AIDS. TV host Ayman Kaysoni engaged the audience in a quiz about the epidemic and handed out prizes to participants. The evening ended with a live concert by the famous band Habayebna.
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Egyptian Actors Khaled Abu El-Naga and Amr
Waked perform a sketch about HIV/AIDS for
youth at Minya Stadium.
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Throughout the three day long celebrations, local civil society organizations whose work contribute to reaching the Millennium Development Goals stood ready to present their work, achievements and publications to visitors in an exhibition tent.
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