Two Egyptians Among World's 100 Most Inspiring Women

Left to Right: Rana al-Kaliouby and Farida Osman

BBC has selected 100 different women from various cultures and backgrounds. Their search focused on finding “amazing women who recently made international headlines, inspiring the world through their groundbreaking successes”. Two Egyptian women were named!

Farida Osman is nicknamed “The Golden Fish”, she was the very first Egyptian woman to win bronze in the 50m butterfly at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in 2017. She also made headlines as the first Egyptian to swim the 100m freestyle and butterfly. She states that her goal is to represent Egypt well internationally and hopes to win a medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Rana al-Kaliouby is recognized by BBC as a “pioneer of artificial emotional intelligence, [she] has developed a unique software through her startup “Affectiva” that is capable of understanding human emotions through facial expressions caught on camera”. As she puts it, her lifes work is to humanize technology. She sees AI as holding great potential for our future. Her technology is currently being used to recognize when vehicle drivers are falling asleep, and her startup has attracted millions in angel investors and venture capitalists.

I am glad these amazing Egyptian women were given some much earned recognition for their great accomplishments, and for their advances for the empowerment of women in modern society.  

Bibliography:

Maged, Mira. “BBC Names Two Egyptians among World’s 100 Most Inspiring Women.” Egyptindependent.com, 21 Oct. 2019, https://egyptindependent.com/bbc-names-two-egyptians-among-worlds-100-most-inspiring-women/.