Mr. Amin Awad, MENA Bureau Director visited Egypt early December. During his visit, he met with government officials, toured the Zamalek registration centre and visited UNHCR projects in Alexandria.

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.

NilFurat Project has started its second phase in 2016. The project focuses on empowering refugee and host community women through engaging master craftswomen and design specialists to bring about remodelled products. The second phase of the project is working on fostering opportunities for a sustainable and ongoing production of the NilFurat products, and on empowering participant women on different levels as per their needs. The project is paving the way to set up a business model and a sustainable framework for working with the women.

Number of Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR in Egypt exceeds 15,000

Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR exceeds 50,000 individuals.

Number of registered Syrian refugees exceeds 25,000

Number of registered Syrian refugees exceeds 50,000 individuals.

Number of registered Syrian refugees in Egypt exceeds 10,000.

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 11 & 12 May, UNHCR in cooperation with The National Center for Judicial Studies conducted a two days’ workshop in Alexandria for 23 Egyptian judges and prosecutors from different governorates about International Protection of Refugees: Current Protection Gaps and Challenges. The purpose of this workshop is to identify gaps and challenges that face UNHCR and the government to find ways to overcome them in order to improve the assistance offered to refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt.