Mrs Abdel Razek who is currently the president of the International Diplomatic Spouses Association (IDSA) is the spouse of the ambassador of Egypt in South Africa, Botswana and the kingdom of Lesotho since September 2020, he had served previously in Washington, Vienna and Addis Ababa, Mrs. Abdel Razek is carrying a political science bachelor with minor in economics, and had 18 years of corporate experience in the telecommunication field in several multinational companies, where she had many years of practice in the customer relationship management field, adding to that and accredited with several HR certifications, she served also for several years in the employee development and welfare programs that included customized models for performance management and
improvement, she speaks Arabic, French and English.
‘Although my university degree was in political science, I got introduced to the world of diplomacy as a diplomat’s Spouse after many years of corporate experience in several multinational companies in the telecommunication field. My work experience extended from customer relationship management to employee development and welfare programs. With this long professional background, it was a challenge to move from the corporate world to the world of diplomacy, which turned out to be an even more challenging job, in this context, I seize this opportunity to salute the diplomats’ spouses, the soldiers behind the scenes, the partners who complement the job, while carrying equally the responsibility of representing the country in various forums and functions. Despite the perks associated with the job of a diplomat, it is in fact, a very unstable job. Frequent mobility from one country to another, adjusting to various cultures, all entail regular movement out of one’s comfort zone, while working continuously to support various social and humanitarian causes. Hence, the life of the spouse of a diplomat becomes more challenging, and the need to embrace change positively becomes a lifetime commitment. With this in mind becoming the president of the International Diplomatic Spouses Association (IDSA) right after covid-19 and its implications, had its share of complexities. Yet for over twenty years IDSA has been present in South Africa and strongly committed to support the South African communities in all possible means. Therefore continuing this journey became not just a simple role but a responsibility. We in IDSA have been supporting social causes in South Africa for many years, particularly women rights. That is why we seize the women month in South Africa to reaffirm our commitment to causes related to women empowerment. Coming from Africa, I know that in our continent, women empowerment, in addition to ending gender based violence, are paramount and should be at the heart of our social challenges, and although I believe that in South Africa, in Egypt as well as in many other countries in the world, undeniable achievements have been accomplished in the past years, however we should admit that the battle is still ongoing, and the road ahead is still long, until we reach this moment where women at large won’t be targeted, labeled, disqualified or underrepresented due to their gender, which is a goal we remain ardent to realize.” – Abdel Razek
