Dr. Nancy Bull, Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UConn, facilitates a session on women’s leadership styles and how to conduct workshops and short courses at the Women in Development workshop, Menoufia University, Egypt, March 10, 2007.

A new multidisciplinary Master’s degree in Women in Development, the first of its kind at Menoufia University, is being developed as a result of a Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) higher education partnership between Menoufia University and the University of Connecticut. 

The graduate degree, one of only a few graduate degrees in all of Egypt, will be housed in the new Women’s Center.  The Center will also offer community outreach, research, workshops and seminars about human rights, women’s issues, and business development and management.

During its first year, 2006, the Women’s Center has gained support from regional women’s councils and NGO’s, and has begun offering workshops on topics of particular interest to women.   Over 100 attendees participated in the first workshop, “Human Rights and Women’s Issues in Egypt,” and quick planning was made to repeat the session. 

“The ultimate goal of the Women’s Center is to provide women opportunities to become community and regional leaders, to realize their full potential, and to have opportunities to focus on business development and management to expand their employment possibilities,” said Hanan Hosny Yashan, member of the Faculty leading the creation of the new Center and the Master’s degree.

Menoufia University's president, Dr. Abbas Ali El-Hefnawy, expressed his support for the establishment of the Center by allocating space for it in the heart of the campus.  During a workshop in March 2007, the members of both schools met to consider curriculum options for the Center that would address Menoufia’s academic interest in training students in gender in development in Egypt, as well as its commitment to deepening and broadening its engagement with the wider community in the Menoufia Governorate. Discussions concentrated on the development of a two-track certificate program, with one track aimed at NGOs and women in the community and the other for enrolled MU students.

The Women’s Center is succeeding in its goals to deliver education and services outside of the university walls.  Menoufia faculty and administrators’ passion and commitment for the new Center and degree opportunities are clearly evident as they are taking on the additional work as part of their normal responsibilities with no increase in salaries.  

The University of Connecticut received a $200,000 MEPI higher education partnership award in 2005 through a competitive process managed by Higher Education for Development (HED) in collaboration with United States Agency for Development (USAID).