Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has sworn in several new provincial governors, including the first-ever Coptic Christian woman to hold the position.
Manal Awad Mikhail was appointed governor of Damietta province Thursday. She was previously a deputy for the Giza governor.
The reshuffle included new governors for Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan and North Sinai. Egypt had appointed the first-ever female governor to the province of Beheira in a reshuffle last year. The Beheira governor was changed in Thursday’s reshuffle.
Christians, who constitute about 10 percent of Egypt’s Muslim-majority population of 100 million, have long complained of discrimination and their under-representation in top government positions.
Christians strongly supported general-turned-president el-Sissi who led the ouster of his Islamist predecessor. Egypt’s current cabinet includes eight female ministers, the highest in the country’s modern history.
