Forward Thinking Visit to Jordan and Egypt, 27-30 September

At the end of September, we visited Jordan and Egypt for a series of meetings with members of our political and diplomatic network. We were joined throughout the visit by John Ging, is the Senior Advisor to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. The visit provided an opportunity to discuss regional developments, strengthen existing partnerships and explore areas where we can continue to support dialogue and practical cooperation.

In Amman, discussions focused on developments across the region, including Gaza and the West Bank, Jordan’s regional priorities, and the importance of maintaining channels for dialogue at a time of heightened regional uncertainty. We met with British Ambassador to Jordan Philip Hall, Dina Al Bashir, a member of the Jordanian House of Representatives, advisers to Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and representatives from the Royal Court.

Oliver, Anna and John meet with Dina Al Bashir, Member of the Jordanian House of Representatives and Daniel Coleman, European Union (EU) Arabic Spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa.

Oliver and John meet with the NCAG Education Commissioner Dr Jabr El-Daour.

We then travelled to Cairo, where discussions focused particularly on the situation in Gaza and Forward Thinking’s ongoing work supporting displaced Palestinian educators. We met with Dr Jabr El-Daour, Education Commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), to discuss the significant challenges facing Gaza’s education system and the importance of rebuilding educational capacity. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss Forward Thinking’s education programme for displaced Gazan teachers in Egypt and possibilities for building on this work.

The team also met with Dr Aed Mahmoud Yaghi, NCAG Health Commissioner, and Osama Al Fara, representative of Mohamed Dahlan in Cairo. These discussions provided further insight into the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the challenges facing the health and education sectors, and perspectives on reconstruction and future Palestinian cooperation.

On Tuesday 29 September, we had lunch with the British and Irish Ambassadors in Cairo. The discussion covered Forward Thinking’s recent work, including our education programme supporting displaced Gazan teachers and our recent visit to Lebanon.

On Wednesday 30 September, we met with Egyptian Senator Rania Sedky, Abdallah El-Sadat and Zein El-Sadat of the SHAF Centre, a longstanding Forward Thinking partner in Cairo. The meeting provided an opportunity to review our ongoing cooperation and discuss future areas of joint work.

The visit strengthened Forward Thinking’s relationships with partners across Jordan and Egypt and provided valuable perspectives on rapidly evolving regional developments. It also helped identify practical opportunities to build on our work in education, dialogue and regional cooperation in the months ahead.