During the Final Conference at Cairo University The British Council Receives Wide Acclaim on VAW Free Campuses’ 3 years of Achievements

The British Council received a wide acclaim for the achievements of its programme Violence Against Women (VAW) Free Campuses, presented at the final conference, held at the Grand Celebrations Hall at Cairo University, under the Auspices of its President, Professor Mohamed Othman Elkhost.
The VAW Free Campuses programme is a joint programme of the British Council and the Anti-VAW Unit at Cairo University with funding from the European Union.
The Conference began with a high-level meeting of the programme’s partners hosted by the President of Cairo University, before moving on to an opening session moderated by TV presenter Dina Esmat, at which the guest speakers were introduced and gave speech. The session started with a presentation by Dr Amira Tawadros, Executive Director of the Anti-VAW Unit at Cairo University who revealed in detail the achievements of the Unit, the outcome of its collaboration with the British Council, and the lessons learnt and the way forward for the programme.
Among the guest speakers were each of Ms Elizabeth White, the British Council’s Director, Mr Gareth Bayley, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Egypt, Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt, and Professor Mohamed Othman Elkhost, President of Cairo University, who praised the successful collaboration between the university and the British Council, with the support of the European Union.
Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt, said: “An education system free from inequality and discrimination, here in Egypt as in Europe, is key for empowering young women and men to build their future on an equal footing. For this reason and as part of the long-lasting EU-Egypt partnership, we work together with education institutions such as Cairo University on initiatives that contribute to an inclusive sustainable development. This event provides us with an excellent opportunity to reaffirm our joint commitment to combat Violence Against Women and empower women and girls as actors of change.”
At the end of the opening session, a video documentary was shown, presenting the achievements of Violence Against Women (VAW) Free Campuses programme over the course of 3 years, which witnessed several activities and events benefiting more than 11,476. Such activities were well received by the university communities of students, staff, and academics. The programme delivered 11 capacity building activities that lasted for 190 training hours. It also helped raise awareness on the seriousness of the violence and the need to combat it offline and online through digital awareness campaigns that reached over 850,000 on Facebook.
Elizabeth White, Director of the British Council in Egypt, said: “Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is central to the work of the British Council as a cultural relations organisation that promotes equality, diversity and inclusion as core values. The British Council shares with others – in the higher education sectors the desire to bring an intentional focus to how higher education systems and practices can be improved through attention to gender equality outcomes. We’re very delighted of the achievements of the VAW Free Campuses programme and the partnership with Cairo University that with the support of the European Union new structures, operation models and case management system are introduced and implemented to support the VAW Unit deal with the cases in an efficient and systematic way. Training modules were developed to the Egyptian & higher education contexts building on existing developed and implemented international and national materials.”
The second session was hosted by Ms Nehad Abul-Komsan, Senior Lawyer and Gender Consultant, and discussed the challenges and best practices for combating violence against women in higher education. The meeting was attended by Ms Doaa Hafez, Senior Consultant, Gender and Inclusion, British Council MENA who presented the results from the new British Council’s report on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Ms Graziella Rizza, Counsellor of the European Union Delegation to Egypt who praised Egypt’s effort in areas of gender equality, women in leadership and combating violence against women, Dr Howaida Moustafa, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication and Director of the Anti-VAW Unit at Cairo University, and Dr Hend Elhelaly, Director of Combating Harassment and Violence against Women Unit, Ain Shams University who discussed higher education role in combating violence against women in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Egypt’s Vision 2030. The session also witnessed an interaction of a large number of the participants, asking questions to know more about the programme and how to disseminate its results and replicate it in Egyptian society.
British Ambassador to Egypt, Gareth Bayley, said: “I am proud to see the British Council playing such an important role, partnering with Cairo University tackling violence against women. We should do all we can – because it’s the right thing to do, and because preventing violence against women is achievable. This and other programmes the UK have contributed to worldwide show what can be done to help make the world a safer place for women. I now hope to see other universities and organizations adopt such measures and look forward to working together with Egyptian authorities to strengthen our partnership in the areas of women’s empowerment and gender equality.”
Moreover, Ms. Shimaa Naaiem, General Manager of The General Directorate for Planning at the National Council For Women praised the collaboration with the University and the British Council. She highlighted the technical and substantial support that the British Council provided in-order to create the VOW unit, one that would ensure a Safe University Campus saying that :
“The Initiative reveals that society at large as well as the Egyptian University support women. It also tries to provide as much as possible, a proactive safe environment in society. Moreover it corrects the misconceptions that the students have on that topic be it males or females. It also raises awareness on the concept of Violence against women and how it is not limited to the physical violence. After 3 years, it is easy to notice the differences in the numbers and types of VAW complaints reported. We hope the initiative sustains.

After a short break, a panel discussion was held on the role of civil society and the media in combating violence against women. The discussion was moderated by TV presenter Dina Ibrahim (Nile TV), and was attended by MP Mohamed Abd Elaziz Member of the 2014 Constitution Drafting Committee, Ms Sahar Salah, Head of the Research Unit at the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights, and Ms Safaa Essam Al-Din, Head of the Parliamentary Affairs Unit at Al Shorouk Newspaper.
Prof Dr Mohamed Othman Elkhosht, President of Cairo University, said: “Cairo University succeeded, through the VAW-Free Campuses programme, in implementing specific policies to combat violence against women within the university, and in building trained and effective cadres, which contributed to providing a safe environment at all levels. The Anti-Violence Against Women Unit has achieved excellent results in the recent period, despite the Corona virus pandemic, through our valued partnership with the British Council and the support of the European Union.”

About the VAW-Free Campuses Project
Violence Against Women (VAW) Free Campuses is a 3-year gender programme by the British Council jointly carried out with the Anti-Harassment and VAW Unit at Cairo University.
The programme aims to address VAW and support the Anti-Harassment and VAW Unit at Cairo University in its mission to provide safe and free from violence environment to the whole university community (students and staff). The Unit works to raise awareness and establish a system for the community to report cases and develop the capacity of the university staff to deal with gender-based violence and harassment and change perceptions towards VAW.
The programme is funded by the European Union (EU) under its women empowerment programme ‘Increase Women Participation in Public Life’ with financial contribution from the British Council and in-kind contribution from Cairo University.
For more information:
https://www.britishcouncil.org.eg/en/programmes/society/VAWG2018

About the Anti-Violence Against Women Unit at Cairo University
The Anti-Violence Unit at Cairo University has a mission that targets the whole university community by disseminating knowledge among them on equality, enhancing protection for women from violence and raising awareness that academic education is safe for all. This mission is achieved through several activities that students, academic staff members and employees participate in.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/AntiVAWCairoUniversity/

About the British Council
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. It aims to build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education, and the English language.
For more information:
https://www.britishcouncil.org.eg/en