University President Attends the Fourth Edition Ceremony of the “Egypt Award for Government Excellence”
Professor Dr. Hemdan Rabie El-Metwally, President of Damietta University, attended today, Monday, January 26, 2025, the ceremony of the “Egypt Award for Government Excellence” in its fourth edition. The event was organized by the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, under the gracious patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, and in the presence of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister; Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development and Minister of Health and Population; Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport; Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation; and Ms. Ohood Al-Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future of the United Arab Emirates. The ceremony was also attended by a large number of ministers and governors, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Cairo, several ambassadors, heads of media authorities, presidents of Egyptian universities, and a number of UAE officials.
The Egypt Award for Government Excellence comes within the framework of the strategic partnership between Egypt and the sisterly United Arab Emirates, which aspires to enhance cooperation, exchange expertise, and work on designing a system for monitoring and measuring performance indicators within the Egyptian government work system, drawing on the distinguished UAE experience in this field.
The ceremony began with a speech by the Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, in which she stated that the Egypt Award for Government Excellence, launched in 2018, aims to build an efficient and effective administrative apparatus that applies governance concepts, contributes to achieving development, and responds to citizens’ needs, enabling Egypt to join the ranks of developed countries. This is achieved through a national award for government excellence that encourages positive, effective, and constructive competition among government institutions and individuals, thereby improving citizens’ quality of life and enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian state.
Ms. Ohood Al-Roumi, UAE Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, also delivered a speech during the ceremony, expressing her happiness to be present at a new milestone in the positive partnership between the UAE and Egypt. She noted that this partnership enjoys the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, with generous follow-up by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai.
The UAE minister said: “Today, we meet on the land of civilization and leadership—Egypt—to celebrate government excellence, an excellence that is not measured by the number of awards, but by impact; an excellence that believes in prioritizing the development of people and investing in their future.”
Ms. Al-Roumi expressed her deep appreciation for the presence of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, and his honoring of the winners of the fourth edition of the Egypt Award for Government Excellence, affirming that this reflects the strong support of the Egyptian leadership for the journey of excellence and government modernization. She also extended her thanks to Dr. Rania Al-Mashat and her distinguished team for their continuous support of the various pillars of partnership within the government modernization strategy between the two countries.
During the ceremony, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly honored a number of winners of the Government Excellence Awards from various government entities across many award categories.
Following the award distribution, the Prime Minister extended his sincere congratulations to the winners, emphasizing that excellence is not merely an award granted periodically, but a work culture that must remain an inherent characteristic of daily practices in all institutions.
Professor Dr. Hemdan Rabie El-Metwally, President of Damietta University, stressed the importance of the Egypt Award for Government Excellence as one of the national mechanisms supporting the development of the government work system, consolidating a culture of institutional excellence, and enhancing the quality of services provided to citizens, in line with the Egyptian state’s direction toward building an efficient and modern administrative apparatus.
The University President explained that the participation of public universities in this award represents a real opportunity to exchange expertise, apply best administrative practices, and strengthen the principles of governance, transparency, and innovation within educational institutions, contributing to improved institutional performance and enhancing the regional and international competitiveness of Egyptian universities. He pointed out Damietta University’s keenness to adopt institutional excellence standards and apply performance measurement indicators, supporting continuous development efforts and strengthening the university’s role in serving the community and achieving sustainable development goals, under the support of the political leadership for modernization and administrative reform.
It is worth noting that the Egypt Award for Government Excellence targets a number of beneficiary entities, including ministries, governorates, public universities, and several authorities. The award includes 19 categories, divided into institutional excellence awards—such as the Distinguished Institution Award (government colleges category), local units category (center and city – district – village), Distinguished Government Websites Award, Government Innovative Initiative Award, and Distinguished Government Service Unit Award, covering categories such as post offices, supply offices, real estate registration and notarization, social rehabilitation, health services, technological centers for citizen services, and customer service centers of drinking water companies—along with the Equal Opportunities and Women’s Empowerment Award.
The awards also include individual excellence categories, such as Distinguished Leadership Awards (senior leadership, general manager, department manager), Best Work Team Award, and Best Government Employee Award.
A new category was also introduced for customer service centers of drinking water and wastewater companies, implemented through a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation—represented by the Egypt Award for Government Excellence—and the Holding Company for Drinking Water and Wastewater, regarding the application of internal excellence awards within the holding company and its affiliates. This initiative is the first of its kind in the government sector. Additionally, a new category for customer service centers of drinking water and wastewater companies was added the government service excellence awards, along with the introduction of a scientific methodology to qualify and develop the 300 evaluators of the Egypt Award for Government Excellence using internationally accredited evaluation tools, in cooperation with specialized expertise houses.
The fourth edition of the award also introduced a new category for Health Directorates, numbering 27 nationwide, to be included within the government service excellence awards, with the aim of supporting and encouraging workers in healthcare facilities to become exemplary models and role models for competition among various entities.
