".


What have been your experiences so far, and how do your future aims look?

Shaima Aly: I am an education and gender consultant, I have worked in many projects in the MENA region and Africa, and I have participated in many seminars and conferences. I wish to continue in this field and to help develop educational curricula in African countries to accommodate the new requirements of development.

Who finances this work?

Shaima Aly: We are based on self-finance as an NGO, and we have long-term co-operation with many international aid organizations.

Realistically speaking, how many women in Egypt will benefit from this development?

Shaima Aly: As a gender activist, I always focus on women's issues in Upper Egypt, which is one of the most deprived and most restricted areas in the region and has many traditions and barriers that block women's progress there. Accordingly, women are the main participants in and beneficiaries of our programs. It is, however, almost impossible to give a realistic number of how many will actually gain from our programs. The hope is that it will be thousands.

In which way does the work of HDEA will improve or change traditional learning forms?

Shaima Aly: In contrast to traditional educational efforts, we always seek to incorporate human principles as the main tools of personal development. This means we base our programs on human rights' codes, gender concepts, and women's rights. We are constantly working to improve the quality of education in addition to generating new forms of interactive learning.