Egypt is facing the population issue from a comprehensive development perspective: Minister of Planning

Dr. Amira Tawadros, Director of the Demographic Center participated recently as a representative to H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning Economic Development in the National Dialogue on “The Population Issue… The Role of Civil Work Organizations”.
The aforementioned dialogue witnessed the presence of Dr. Talaat Abdel Qawi, President of the General Federation of NGOs and Institutions and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Family Planning Association, and representatives of ministries, agencies, and international organizations concerned with issues of health and population.
During her speech, which was delivered by Dr. Amira Tawadros, Dr. Hala El-Said said that the presence of this distinguished group of representatives of the government, and civil society is an embodiment of the participatory approach that the Egyptian state is keen on. 






She added that this approach guarantees the availability of collective responsibility to achieve development, and also ensures the mobilization and concertation of all efforts, resources, and ideas that enhance the efforts of the Egyptian state to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.

El-Said indicated that the Egyptian state began eight years ago a serious process of work to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, explaining that several successes have been achieved by implementing major development projects and initiatives in the sectors of education, health, housing, and utilities in all parts of Egypt.

El-Said emphasized that the Egyptian state, during its efforts to achieve development in recent years, took into account the concept of balance in its various dimensions, as the state is keen on geographical balance by achieving balanced regional development.
The Minister of Planning added that the citizen’s sense of the fruits of this and other development projects and initiatives is subject to observing a more general and comprehensive balance between population increase and available resources, a balance that ensures maximizing the benefit of the current human wealth enjoyed by Egyptian society, and at the same time contributes to controlling population growth rates. To avoid the negative impact of these increasing rates on per capita development returns.
El-Said emphasized that the issue of population increase represents one of the most important development challenges facing the state during this stage.
 “Undoubtedly, this increase is accompanied by negative effects and economic and social pressures resulting from the increase in the imbalance between resources and population, and this inevitably leads to a decline in the per capita share of return from efforts Development and the fruits of economic growth that the state has been able to achieve in recent years” El-Said explained.






El-Said noted that the state is keen to have the main objective of the strategy for dealing with the population issue and to manage it from a comprehensive development perspective.
This main perspective depends mainly on improving population characteristics such as education, health, work opportunities, economic empowerment, and culture, in addition to controlling population growth rates.

El-Said referred to the launch of the national project for the development of the Egyptian family, under the auspices of the President of the Republic, through an execution plan that includes five main pillars.
El-Said continued that these pillars are represented in the economic empowerment of women and motivating them to establish small and micro projects, providing the necessary funding for this, and providing family planning methods as well as making them available free of charge.




Moreover, El-Said highlighted the pillar of digital transformation through which an integrated electronic system is built to monitor, follow up and evaluate the services provided to the Egyptian family, with the aim of project governance and ensuring that services reach their beneficiaries.
At the end of her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said stressed the importance of participation between the government, civil society, and the private sector in facing the challenge of overpopulation, stressing the importance of the conscious participation of the people.