Participation of Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran in the centenary conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On May 31, 2022, the Center for Middle East Research and Future Studies at Ain Shams University organized a scientific conference to celebrate the centenary of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entitled “The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a hundred years (1922-2022)”. A number of former foreign ministers as well as diplomats, academics and researchers participated in the conference. Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, ECFA Chairman, participated as a keynote speaker in the first session of the conference, as he thanked His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, for his kind invitation, and Dr. Ashraf Moanes, Director of the Center for Middle East Research and Future Studies, for organizing this conference. In his speech, he introduced the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and its role in promoting Egyptian foreign policy, addressing ECFA’s relationship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, think tanks and research centers at the internal and external levels, and the United Nations and its agencies, especially since it enjoys consultative status with the Economic and Social Council ECOSOC, and its participation in NPT review conferences.

Ambassador Zahran also presented in his speech the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in establishing the United Nations, and its participation in the San Francisco Conference of delegates in 1945 to formulate the charter of the new organization. As well as the role of the ministry in establishing regional organizations and communities, such as the establishment of the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity, which later became the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC, and the Group of 77, referring to Egypt’s membership in the United Nations regional Commissions ESCWA/ECA, Egypt’s participation in peacekeeping operations. He also tackled Egypt’s role in arms control and disarmament, especially weapons of mass destruction, its participation in promoting the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, and its efforts to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.

In a related context, Ambassador Zahran gave glimpses of Egypt’s struggle for independence and ending colonialism, and its efforts to defend its independence and regional sovereignty against the tripartite aggression in 1956, as well as the wars of attrition and the October 1973 War, until its territories were completely liberated, within the framework of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979, then the liberation of Taba through international arbitration.