“Match on my successor” .. “The state” fights misconceptions with “family development” .. The project aims to reach 1.6 children for each woman .. Economic empowerment of women and the availability of family planning methods in health centers and hospitals

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“103 million people”, the population in Egypt so far 2022; According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, this is a large number that the state needs to provide them with health care, educational, housing, economic and other services, and in light of the efforts made by the state to achieve development and improve and improve the quality of life of citizens, but this population increase is a stressor on the resources of the state, which This number does not fit.

This was explained by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, during his speech at the event of launching the national project for the development of the Egyptian family, saying that the population of Egypt has increased by 14 million people since 2014, at a time when the state did not obtain sufficient income for this population growth, stressing that the capacity of The state is not in line with the country’s population growth capacity. The state needs a gross domestic product income of $5 trillion, in order for the citizen to obtain the services, education and awareness that are provided in European countries.

President El-Sisi stressed the importance of moving in the national project for the development of the family collectively, and with NGOs, universities and the media, indicating that the goal is to develop the Egyptian state and fight ignorance, backwardness and poverty, which did not happen except by placing the project as a pillar for action in order to change reality for the better. in everything.

An issue of national security

While Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, confirmed that the population increase is an issue of national security, as the rate of increase in 2021 amounted to about 1.5 million people, and the state spent investments exceeding 6 million 2 trillion pounds over the past seven years, in the implementation of a huge volume of projects in all governorates of the Republic, explaining that what the state is achieving in trying to deal with the previous accumulations faces an important challenge represented in the enormity of the previous accumulation, and the most important thing is the size of the current and future needs that result from the increase. population, which makes our ability as a country to keep up with the scale of these challenges very difficult and complex.

Project action plan

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the launch of the national project for the development of the Egyptian family over a period of 3 years, starting from last year until 2023, with the aim of achieving a quantum leap in the areas of building the Egyptian person, and improving the quality of life. The citizen and the family in general by controlling the accelerated growth rates, improving the characteristics of the population, and increasing citizens’ awareness of the seriousness of the issue at the level of the Republic, as the birth rate exceeds 5 children per woman in some governorates, but the government targets a rate of 1.6 children per woman.

The project, with the participation of all concerned agencies, in its first year, targeted the governorates of the first phase of the presidential initiative “A Decent Life”, which includes about 1520 villages at the level of 52 centers in 20 governorates, in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, where the government has set 5 main axes to achieve the goals ambitious project.

The first axis includes the economic empowerment of women in the age group from 18 to 45 years, by providing job opportunities and earning a livelihood, and achieving financial independence, by equipping and operating 200 sewing workshops attached to health and family development units in 16 governorates, and training on Producing medical textiles to meet the needs of hospitals, training one million women on entrepreneurship, implementing training programs and courses for women, as well as implementing one million micro-projects, training 2 million women on project management, digital literacy and financial inclusion, and qualifying them for the labor market according to the investment opportunities in each governorate.

Service intervention

As for the second axis, it is the service intervention, which includes the provision of free family planning methods with continuous follow-up, and the rehabilitation of a large number of medical staff, in addition to increasing the civil associations that provide family planning services to reach 400 An association, and providing it with family planning methods at a safe storage level, and the third axis includes legislative intervention, in which the marriage of minors is criminalized, and the punishment for child labor is increased.

The project includes various social, demographic, health and cultural family dimensions, by paying attention to women's health by raising the efficiency of family health and development centers to provide vaccinations and primary care services, as well as follow-up medical examinations before and after marriage. The executive plan of the national family planning project also includes a project to raise The efficiency of integration hospitals nationwide, and the establishment of a large group of family health and development units, where 450 million pounds were allocated to equip units of this type in the investment plan for the fiscal year 2021-2022, and 2 billion pounds were included for the benefit of the Egyptian family development project in the sustainable development plan. .

A governmental fund

The project also includes the establishment of a governmental fund for the insurance and development of the Egyptian family, which gives incentives to families who are committed to the determinants of controlling population growth. A woman of childbearing age, and it will also include the establishment of an electronic system called the “Egyptian Family System” to automate the services of the Family Insurance Fund and link them to the family health and development units, as the project enjoys unprecedented political support, and the insurance benefits of the program reach an amount of 60 thousand pounds.

An electronic system

An electronic system will be established to follow up and evaluate the performance of the project's executive plan, and introduce indicators to measure performance and the impact of interventions, as well as establish a demographic observatory to monitor and analyze population characteristics and indicators at the level of the Republic and submit monthly reports in the governorates and villages. Most in need of intervention and directing cultural, awareness and health services.

The negative consequences of population increase

Dr. Amr Hassan, former Rapporteur of the National Population Council, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Infertility at Kasr El-Ainy, says that the population in Egypt is one of the elements of the comprehensive strength of the state, but this principle is not absolute. However, it is conditional that the rates of population increase do not exceed the ability of the state to provide basic services of appropriate quality, and that the rates of population increase do not affect the average per capita share of natural resources, especially water, energy and agricultural land, and that the rates of population increase are commensurate with the ability of the national economy to achieve a high level of human development, and achieving a reduction in unemployment rates.

And “Hassan” continues that improving the quality of life of the citizen requires reducing the population increase rates to strike the missing balance between economic growth rates and population growth rates. The daily population increase during the period from July 2021 to February 2022 comes at a rate of 4310 individuals, which means every minute it increases Population at a rate of 3 births, explaining that the continuation of population growth at its current levels will lead to a decline in the return from development efforts, as the per capita expenditure on health, education, housing, transportation and communications, and its share of agricultural land, water and energy of all kinds will decline, and this large population increase will make it difficult to reduce From unemployment, illiteracy, and food sufficiency, the persistence of high fertility rates will not only affect the quality of life in the future, but will also pose a threat to Egyptian national security.

He continues, that this huge population is still concentrated in only 7.8% of Egypt's area, which exceeds one million square kilometres. He pointed out that what the state is currently implementing in terms of national projects in the new cities will redraw the population map in Egypt by redistributing the population in a way that achieves national security, and takes into account the achievement of population goals for those projects.

Solutions

He explains that Egypt aims to reduce the annual increase rate to 400,000 annually, as there is a political will to solve this problem during the era of President Sisi, as the population of Egypt has increased in the last 8 years to more than 16 One million people, and this increase devours the state’s efforts to achieve development, adding that the family planning project is the largest investment project in Egypt, and it will achieve many benefits. Every pound the state spends on family planning saves it 151.7 pounds, according to data issued by the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies in 2008. 2020, divided into 32.9 pounds in spending on health, 74.1 pounds in education, 16.7 pounds in food subsidies, and 28 pounds in housing and social facilities.

Historic Opportunity

Hassan asserts that the national project for family development targets the whole family, not just women. It is based on 5 axes, including the axis of digital transformation and financial inclusion, which makes there a follow-up and evaluation of the strategy. This project is a historic opportunity to close the file of population increase and achieve the required success. It is a comprehensive development project for the family and economic empowerment of women by doing small projects for them and qualifying them for the labor market.

The state's resources do not accommodate the population increase

Dr. Adel Amer, an economist, explains that the state's economic resources are limited. Consequently, the state is forced to import at the expense of foreign exchange reserves, which leads to a rise in prices, due to the lack of a sufficient product for this increase, adding that the population increase in Egypt eats up all stages of development, and citizens do not feel it to meet their basic needs.

Amer continues that the state is working hard to confront the population increase, which was evident through the launch of the National Project for Family Development, and its provision of positive incentives to families committed to regulation, which is one of the positive methods and solutions used by the state to encourage other families to adhere to regulation. In addition to educating citizens about the seriousness of the issue and its negative economic effects, in addition to empowering women economically through establishing small projects and qualifying them for the labor market, and benefiting from technology and digital transformation in order to achieve development and control the characteristics of the population as well.

Negative impact on the economy

Dr. Mostafa Abu Zeid, Director of the Egypt Center for Economic Studies, adds that the Egyptian state has, since 6 years ago, been working according to an ambitious strategic vision, an action program and the general framework of Egypt's Vision 2030 in achieving a strong economy. Diversified and sustainable competition that positively affects several very important goals in order to achieve economic and social development through the application of the concept of inclusive growth, which means distributing all development revenues in a manner that guarantees fair distribution, in addition to targeting all governorates of the Republic to reduce all economic and social disparities.

Abu Zeid confirms that the state is working in parallel on all industrial, agricultural and service sectors through national projects that contribute to increasing the gross domestic product, and thus increasing economic growth rates, and with it generating direct and indirect job opportunities that lead to a decrease in the unemployment rate, pointing out He pointed out that what has been achieved so far in terms of achieving high growth rates amounted to 3.3% during the last fiscal year, a decrease in the unemployment rate to 7.3%, and achieving a first surplus in the state’s general budget amounted to 1.46%, and pumping a lot of government investments into the infrastructure. The basic and development of services provided to citizens.

And he continues, that all that has been achieved in a few years, which is a breakthrough and a quantum leap in the progress of the quality of life of the Egyptian citizen, with the population increasing at an accelerating pace greater than the rates of growth and development, so that all the effects of these indicators and their reflection on the lives of citizens, and the state’s inability to In line with the growing requirements of citizens due to its connection to the rapid population increase, calling for an effective and strong role for the National Council for Women in providing a package of awareness programs, which clarify the economic, health and educational risks of the unplanned population explosion.

He demanded that door-to-door campaigns be carried out in rural governorates, in which there is little culture of reproductive health, to be a direct means to clarify all the details, in addition to the role of the media in clarifying this issue in all its dimensions, risks and negatives on the reality of life, explaining that the state knows that human capital One of the most important basic pillars for achieving the goals of economic and social development, but the steady increase that exceeds the ability of the state to provide all basic services in an adequate manner will be more difficult if the situation remains as it is now.

Disruption of the elements of production

In a related context, Dr. Walid Jaballah, an economist, asserts that the elements of production are 4 elements, namely natural resources, population, organization and capital, and there must be a balance between these four elements so that We are facing an integrated development process, but in Egypt there is an imbalance in these elements, as Egypt possesses natural resources and an abundance of the population component, while it has a lack of the organizing element represented in creating entrepreneurs and investors, and then the insufficient investments necessary to operate the human force in projects He explained that for Egypt to be in the process of development, it is necessary to increase investments and projects, and at the same time limit the population increase.

Gaballah explains that the Egyptian state pumped huge government investments during the previous period and tackled hundreds of national projects that helped create job opportunities, move the market and increase the size of the economy, and in return, the population increase must be controlled on the other side so that there is A balance in the elements of production, stressing the need to limit the population increase, as there were previous attempts since 2010 by raising awareness, stimulating and providing free family planning methods, but during the period of political turmoil, the population rates rose again.

He indicates that the state is now carrying out a national project for family planning to address this increase beyond raising awareness, as it is a necessary matter that the state's strategy focuses on during this period, but it is important that there be real, objective measures that help limit the population increase, so there were measures Such as limiting the cash support “Takaful and Karama” to only two children, and also limiting the supply support to 3 children per family, but it is important that the next strategy of the state cares that there are incentive measures, such as health insurance or certain incentives for those who reach the retirement age for those who have only children Two children and so on are positive measures, which are important to take so that there is a real and quick effect.

Deprivation of support

And he continues, that there are countries such as China that have taken severe measures such as the one-child law that has lasted for a long time, by obliging the family to have one child, as well as the situation in India that has carried out forced sterilization, but These measures are not commensurate with the Egyptian reality, which must be motivating measures and push towards controlling the population in line with reality, suggesting that other measures be added to these measures, such as considering the increase in childbearing beyond a certain number as a measure that prevents those who do it from assuming positions or running for office. In elections of all kinds, or obtaining support from the state and other measures that make individuals think a lot before having many children.

Development Return

As Dr. Abd al-Rahman Alayan, an economist, asserts, the problem of population increase devours development efforts and its return on citizens, as this return must be equal to the population density, as the uncontrolled population increase affects the The state’s resources and efforts to achieve development in various fields, explaining that development attempts in light of the population increase are like trying to “fill the pot without a bottom.” Family planning is required in light of the current conditions, to limit its impact on economic growth rates.

Alyan adds that the population of Egypt was similar to the population of European countries, but during the recent period the Egyptian population exceeded the number of the population of these countries, up to the census at the beginning of the current year 2022, which is 103 million people, demanding that family planning take place. Which is achieved by changing the traditional thinking of some citizens towards offspring, through the concerted efforts of the state in this regard through the launch of the national project for family development, and the cooperation of the concerned authorities and agencies with the state to achieve the required goal. Mosques and churches play a fundamental role in increasing citizens' awareness of the implications of the increase Negative demographics on the economy and society.

A proposed law

He says that countries such as China and India have applied very strict measures regarding family planning, such as sterilization of men, or in the event of having more than two children, the state takes the child to care for him in residential communities, so achieving development in any A state that must be commensurate with population growth, but in Egypt such measures cannot be applied, and therefore the state implemented the national project for family development and its inclusion of positive incentives for families committed to regulation, indicating that the state implements future development plans, but in the event that they are completed in light of The population increase will not accommodate these plans for the new increase, as there is no stability in population growth rates.

He suggested that a law be issued imposing penalties on families who are not committed to the regulation, and these penalties include deprivation of support provided by the state, as the state is developing future plans to develop education, for example by establishing classes and schools according to the current population census, and in the event of continuing Increasing it at this rate annually, as these plans will not achieve the desired goal, which is to accommodate the number of new students, and classrooms and schools remain as crowded as they do not accommodate this increase.

Declining per capita share

Ahmed Moati, an economist, explains that the population increase is one of the most important problems facing the state during the recent period, as the population increases at an abnormal rate, with growth rates reaching 2.5 million generators annually. , And it causes the erosion of development through national projects implemented by the state, which requires the work of other new projects in return for it to absorb this population increase, explaining that this matter will not solve the idea of ​​​​absorbing the increase, especially since there is what is called the “per capita share” of the gross domestic product. In Egypt, it is low due to population growth, in light of the fact that this output is currently the highest in the history of Egypt, and the country’s ranking is advanced in the largest global institutions, so Egypt ranks 32 among the largest economies in the world.

Moati continues that this arrangement that Egypt currently occupies is due to the gross domestic product, which is what the country produces in terms of goods and services, which amounts to 364 billion dollars, and among the goals of the state is to increase this number to 400 billion dollars, to complement the highest growth rates. In history, explaining that production during the recent period is high in goods and services and achieving economic, political and health security, but at the same time the population increase continues, and therefore the citizen does not feel the production and the stronger economy. A major problem that has caused an increase in unemployment rates, despite the state’s efforts to reduce the unemployment rate during the past years and reach it to 7.5%, which is a very safe rate.

He points out that unemployment is the biggest problem facing the whole world, not just Egypt, because it increases the rate of crime, poverty, education, etc., adding that there is a major challenge facing the state is controlling population growth rates, and the state does not impose difficult or strict measures, as happened in other countries. Others, such as China, force it not to have children, but it works to educate and raise awareness through the educational sector of the seriousness of rapid population growth.