DUBAI: Mohra Tantawy, the 21-year-old runway model, was crowned Miss Universe Egypt 2023 on Monday.

The rising star now has the opportunity to represent Egypt at Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador on Nov. 18.

Tantawy competing with other finalists Salma Eltoukhy, Doaa Meera Tarek, Aya Abdelrazik and Amera Othman.

The competition’s categories were a personal interview, swimwear round backed by Egyptian brand Hadia Ghaleb, evening gown round, and the final question.

During the final question and answer segment, Tantawy was asked: “What do you think is the biggest reason why poverty still exists in many countries in the world?”

Her winning answer was: “I believe the main reason why poverty still exists in many countries is the lack of resources such as education or the lack of economic opportunities, and if I were to be Miss Universe Egypt, I would work with both local and international organizations to create (a) micro-funding environment and to empower these people that are stuck in the unfortunate circumstance of poverty, and just empower them to break out of the cycle.”

The competition was organized by Dubai-based Yugen Group, the same entity behind this year’s Miss Universe Bahrain pageant.

Josh Yugen, owner and national director of Miss Universe Egypt, said in a statement: “On behalf of Miss Universe Egypt organization, we are very honored to crown our new Miss Universe Egypt 2023 with our utmost goal of celebrating a platform that gives a voice to the empowerment of young women, to highlight their incredible and innovative contribution to our society and to inspire other women to break stereotypes not only in Egypt but all throughout the world.”

“Our new queen is quintessentially graced with passion, cocooned with courage and armored with pursuit of love, sisterhood and kindness,” he added.

Miss Universe Egypt was held in Cairo and live-streamed globally on the pageant’s YouTube channel.

The jury members included Egyptian actress Mai Omar, Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Arci Munoz, and Filipino-Italian model Celeste Cortesi.

The event was hosted by Evlin Khalifa, who was crowned Miss Universe Bahrain in 2022.