UNHCR Egypt is pleased to share the good news of the expansion of the Y’ahl El-Hay - يا 'هل الحي project (People of the Neighbourhood) this year. After its successful implementation during 2015 in Obour City, UNHCR Egypt’s Community Support Programme (CSPs) is extending the Ya'ahl El-Hay project to three further locations including a Family Health Center in 10th Ramadan city, a Family Health Unit in 6th October city, and a Health Center in El Salam Awal area.

On 10 August, UNHCR Egypt and its partner Caritas with the support of Syrian refugees opened its first community center in Damietta under the refugee programme in the governorate. The day was marked with children and adult singing performances and a poetry recital where UNHCR, Ministry of Social Solidarity, and Caritas welcomed the refugees.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 25 November, UNHCR Egypt celebrated the day with a Marathon and a scooters parade of around 600 people along 6 km of the Cornish in Alexandria. The event also marked the first day of the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign” that runs annually from 25 November to 10 December. Syrian Sports Academy, which is a sports initiative supported by UNHCR, participated with 40 Syrians living in Alexandria while Alex Free Riders Club has participated with 45 riders parading side by side with the runners. Alexandria Marathon sports group supports UNHCR in raising awareness about refugee issues in Alexandria.

In the context of the CSP project, Y’ahl El-Hay - يا 'هل الحي, the internal interventions have started in three clinics in Greater Cairo: the Family Health Center in 10th of Ramdan City, the Family Health Unit in 6th of October City, and the Health center in El Salam Awal area. External interventions will start later this month in the public spaces/open areas that are attached to the clinics. Students and volunteers are currently working on the designs through a participatory approach. Y' ahl El-Hay aims at developing public health clinics and its surrounding spaces through a participatory approach, in order to enhance their capacity and support their role as a social place. Under the umbrella of Terre des hommes Egypt this project has built on extensive partnerships between several enthusiastic partners: Œcumene Studio which designs and constructs the project; and the Ministry of Health.

UNHCR Egypt Representative Ms. Elizabeth Tan met with 350 teachers from all governorates in Egypt who have benefitted from the Active Learning Training programme, which was successfully implemented from the 31st of October to the 5th of November 2016. The event, held in the Student’s Union building, was organized by UNHCR in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Ms. Tan thanked the Government of Egypt and the Ministry of Education for their generosity in hosting refugees, as well as giving their children access to public schools. The Representative also thanked the teachers, and acknowledged the efforts and patience they show the refugee children that may face difficulties in adapting in a new environment. Ms. Tan said that UNHCR is committed to support the Ministry of Education in delivering high quality education and ensuring that schools are a safe learning environment for both refugee and Egyptian children.

NilFurat Project aspires to create a common space for learning and intercultural dialogue between women from the local host community and refugee communities in Egypt. Building on the richness of cultural diversity, 70 Egyptian, African, and Syrian women, in Cairo, have been able to acquire training and exchange knowledge through art and production.

UNHCR Egypt extended its reception hours last week and received 3,876 individuals (1,709 families), approaching the office to renew their documents, update their information and add new family members to their records. Continuous verification contributes to a better understanding of the profile and needs of people registered with UNHCR. This exercise has also considerably reduced the waiting period to obtain a renewal appointment in our offices, which decreased from 3 months to 1 month. Additionally, 86 Syrian families also had the opportunity to complete their vulnerability assessment interviews.

UNHCR and the Ministry of Education held the opening ceremony of their joint teacher training programme for 2016. The training focused on developing the required skills for Arabic Language teachers who are working with primary students. The event was attended by Ms. Marian Schilperoord UNHCR Senior Operations Manager who gave a speech about the importance that UNHCR gives to the education of refugees. Ms. Schilperoord thanked the Ministry of Education for its generosity in admitting Syrian and Sudanese refugees in public schools at same footing as Egyptians. While Ms. Mai Mahmoud, UNHCR Associate Protection Officer presented UNHCR’s mandate to help the teachers understand better the circumstances of the refugee student they meet every day in their classroom.

On April 2, 2017 the launch of the Egypt 3RP took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of ambassadors, UN & government officials.

The “Heya” Campaign was launched on March 19, 2017 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina by UNHCR Alexandria Field Office in collaboration with the General Collections and Services Department at the Depository Library Section. The event opened with speeches by the organizers and partners of the Heya Campaign. Aseer Al Madaien, Head of UNHCR Alexandria Office spoke about this year's UN theme “Women in a Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030” and UNHCR’s theme for 2017 "UNHCR supports women's right to decent work." "Women’s rights are human rights," Al Madaien said. "UNHCR believes that empowerment of women and girls economically and socially is the only means by which to protect their rights and guarantees that they achieve their potential.