Rania Al-Mashat receives honorary doctorate from Canada’s Cape Breton University
Rania Al-Mashat, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, received an honorary doctorate from Canada’s Cape Breton University in recognition of more than 25 years of contributions to economic policy, development, and international cooperation.
The honorary doctorate, one of the university’s highest distinctions, was presented to Al-Mashat during the 2026 graduation ceremony of the Canadian International College (CIC) in Cairo by Cape Breton University Vice-President Tanya Brann Barrett and CIC founder Magdy El-Qadi.
Al-Mashat has held senior positions at international financial institutions and in Egypt’s economic policymaking system, including serving as an adviser to the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a senior economist at the IMF in Washington, D.C., and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for monetary policy.
She also served in Egypt’s government for eight years, including as the country’s first female tourism minister, minister of international cooperation, and later minister of planning and economic development and international cooperation.
The award recognises her work linking economic policymaking, development strategies, and international cooperation with practical development outcomes, the university said.
In remarks following the award, Al-Mashat expressed her appreciation to Cape Breton University’s Board of Governors, describing the honour as a source of pride and gratitude for her work in public service, economic development, and international cooperation.
She said her professional career had been shaped by an exchange between international expertise and local experience, with her work in Egypt informing her contributions to international institutions and the experience gained abroad feeding back into policymaking at home.
A consistent objective throughout that journey has been to turn economic stability into sustainable development opportunities, she said.
During the ceremony, Al-Mashat delivered a speech titled Together, We Build the Future, focusing on the role of education in empowering individuals and shaping societies.
She said providing people with knowledge and skills is not enough without creating an environment that allows them to use those capabilities to serve their communities and build their futures.
That approach also underpins her current work at the United Nations, she said, where she seeks to promote a shared regional vision of what Arab countries can achieve through collective action and partnerships among governments, international institutions and the private sector.
The goal is to translate regional cooperation into tangible improvements in people’s lives, particularly by expanding access to education and employment opportunities, she said.
Al-Mashat also cited Egyptian thinkers Gamal Hamdan and Taha Hussein in her address, drawing on Hamdan’s concept of the “genius of place” and the relationship between geography, history, economics and society.
She also referred to Hussein’s statement that “education is like water and air; it is a right for every human being,” describing the principle as central to her responsibilities at the UN.
Al-Mashat has also contributed to economic research and publications, including Principles of Economic Diplomacy of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Enhance International Cooperation and Development Financing, which examines the use of economic diplomacy to strengthen international cooperation and mobilise development financing.
Her work in international cooperation and economic diplomacy was also documented by the London School of Economics during her tenure as Egypt’s minister of international cooperation.
She has received several international and regional honours, including recognition as the most distinguished minister of international cooperation in Africa.
The Cape Breton University doctorate adds to a career spanning economic policymaking, monetary policy, development financing, international cooperation, and public service.
