S’pore Red Cross hands over further $1.2m of aid for Palestinian evacuees; to fund education unit

CAIRO – children whose lives have been upended by the conflict in Gaza will be able to continue with their education, with funds to procure a mobile education unit in the latest tranche of donations from Singapore.

The Singapore Red Cross said on Sept 21 that it had handed over about $1.2 million worth of aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent in its latest set of donations to assist in the crisis, including $440,000 worth of tents and $758,000 in funds for essential medical and educational services for Palestinian evacuees in Egypt.

The donations are for medical consumables and equipment, benefiting about 4,000 evacuees and their companions, as well as for a mobile education unit to serve around 2,000 Palestinian children in 11 accommodation centres managed by the Egyptian Red Crescent.

This forms part of Singapore’s 10th tranche of humanitarian assistance for affected civilians in Gaza, bringing the total support from Singapore to more than $23 million.

On Sept 21, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam visited the Egyptian Red Crescent headquarters while on his state visit to Cairo and witnessed the symbolic handover of donations from the Singapore Red Cross.

He is the first head of state from any nation to visit the Egyptian Red Crescent, which has been coordinating humanitarian aid from various organisations crossing from Egypt into Gaza since the escalation of the conflict.

During his visit, President Tharman and his spouse, Mrs Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam, were also taken by Dr Amal Emam, chief executive of the Egyptian Red Crescent, to a mock-up of the tents donated by the Singapore Red Cross.

They also saw a packing centre, where food items like oil, stuffed grape leaves and cheese were being boxed. 

Speaking to the Singapore media covering the state visit, Dr Amal said the mobile education unit funded by the donations from Singapore will go to areas where medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza are receiving treatment in Egypt.

She said: “Through this mobile educational unit, we will not only provide food and shelter as it used to be, but also, we will support children, especially aged between five and 18, to receive some of the educational opportunities and learning opportunities that they have been driven from in the last two years.”

Dean and group director of the Singapore Red Cross Academy, Mr Sahari Ani, who is also in Cairo, said the need for a mobile education unit was something raised to them by their counterparts in the Egyptian Red Crescent.

He said the unit will provide non-formal education, including life skills, to children to return them to a sense of normalcy.

“This protracted type of uncertainty can have a certain impact on the psychological well-being (of those affected),” he said.

He added that the tents that are being supplied will be of importance as the weather in Gaza will turn cold in the coming months.

Dr Amal said that since the escalation of the conflict, it was important to discuss the urgent needs of the people in Gaza with organisations like the Singapore Red Cross.

She said: “With the continuous assessment of all of these needs, it was clear that the food supply, the items related to shelter and also everything related to medical consumables are among the very needed items there in Gaza, taking into consideration the fact that the people there have been on the move and displaced several times from their own places over the past two years.”

She said while the aid being sent to Gaza is a “drop in the ocean” considering the immense needs there, every demonstration of support is deemed significant, and “that’s why we appreciate and recognise the support coming from Singapore”.

S’pore can be springboard for Egyptian businesses: Masagos

Separately, Singapore and Egypt exchanged six agreements and memorandums of understanding on Sept 21 at a business forum for the two countries, witnessed by government leaders from both nations.

They were Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib, and Egypt’s Minister of Education and Technical Education Mohamed Abdel Latif.

The wide-ranging agreements spanned areas such as vocational education and training, capacity-building in international arbitration, and public policy education. Singapore’s ITE Education Services and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre were two of the organisations involved.

Speaking at the forum, held at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones in Cairo, Mr El-Khatib said that while the scale of Singapore and Egypt’s economic partnership is encouraging, the two countries must raise their economic cooperation to a level that reflects the future and depth of the relationship between the two countries.

With the current global transformation, geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures and challenging economics, genuine partnerships rooted in trust and shared values are important, he said.

Also delivering a speech at the forum, Mr Masagos said Singapore can be a springboard for Egyptian businesses expanding into South-east Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

He noted Asean’s relatively young population and the fact that it is the fifth-largest economy in the world combined, projected to grow at 4 per cent to 5 per cent for the next five years. 

Mr Masagos said Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone – or SCZone – can be a new frontier for economic partnership between the two countries, one that creates jobs and prosperity in Egypt, while offering Singaporean companies a gateway into the Middle East and Africa.

He added that the economic zone, which was established in 2015 and spans 461 sq km, presents opportunities for investment in logistics, port management and transit trade, to which Singapore can contribute its expertise.

He added: “Beyond ports, its industrial projects also offer opportunities for cooperation and co-investment. Singapore stands ready to be a constructive partner in the SCZone’s success.”

Noting that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and President Tharman had agreed on Sept 21 that it would be timely to explore the feasibility of a bilateral trade agreement, Mr Masagos said there are promising sectors where businesses from the two countries can work together. These include connectivity and logistics, urban solutions and infrastructure, consumer goods and agri-commodities and tourism.

He added: “Ours is a friendship grounded in shared strategic interests – stability, prosperity, and a belief in a connected world. 

“It is strengthened, too, by the ties between our peoples. I am confident the conversations today will add to our growing partnership between businesses, and to the broader relationship between our two nations.”