Deputy Minister Launches 'Decent Life' Impact Workshop in Rural Egypt

Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, inaugurated a workshop to discuss the impact assessment of the "Decent Life" project on improving the level of services provided to families in rural Egypt. 

The workshop was attended by Dr. Jamil Helmy, Assistant Minister for the Follow-up of Sustainable Development Plan, Dr. Mona Essam, Assistant Minister for Sustainable Development, Abdelhamid Sharaf Eldin, Advisor to the President of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, and representatives from relevant ministries, the Central Bank of Egypt, and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, along with university professors.

During the workshop, Dr. Ahmed Kamali emphasized the importance of the "Decent Life" project for development in Egypt, highlighting its size and impact as the world's largest development project contributing to sustainable development, Egypt's Vision 2030, and the UN Agenda 2030. He stressed the importance of scientifically and objectively measuring the impact of various interventions and initiatives, necessitating the collaboration with the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics to collect data for assessing the impact of different interventions in the "Decent Life" project due to its diverse environmental, social, economic, and developmental interventions. He explained that the substantial financial support allocated to the project requires monitoring its real-world impact.

Kamali pointed out the role of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the Ministries of Planning and Economic Development, and Local Development, emphasizing the need for the participation of experts, specialists, academics, and representatives of civil society to provide a survey form reflecting the important elements to focus on for measuring the project's impact. He stressed the importance of balanced development not only focusing on a specific region, considering Egypt's significant developmental disparities.

Jameel Helmy explained that since the launch of the "Decent Life" initiative, specific criteria have been set for selecting centers and villages, with the majority of indicators and criteria sourced from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. He praised the support provided by the agency, helping target the most needy centers and villages. The Ministry considers the agency a strategic partner in providing outstanding databases.

Regarding measuring the impact of the first phase projects on improving the level of services provided to families in rural Egypt, Helmy mentioned the proposed draft sent by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics to all benefiting and implementing entities of the "Decent Life" project. All entities interacted with the sent draft, and official responses were sent from the relevant ministers to the agency. The goal is to develop a comprehensive survey reflecting the needs of all parties benefiting from the government, civil society, and partners. He emphasized the international significance of the "Decent Life" project, registered on UN platforms for two consecutive years as a best international practice, requiring a comprehensive survey due to its importance.

Abdelhamid Sharaf Eldin emphasized the importance of data and surveys conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, considering the "Decent Life" project a qualitative leap for the level of services provided in rural Egypt. He praised the collaboration with the Ministry of Planning in implementing the survey aimed at measuring the impact of the first phase projects on improving the living conditions of citizens.

The workshop saw the participation of experts and representatives from relevant ministries and "Decent Life" project, including Dr. Shaker El-Naggar, Head of Population Statistics Sector at the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Prof. Khaled Abdel Fattah, Sociology Professor at Helwan University, Dr. Walaa Jad El-Karim, Director of the Central Administration for the "Decent Life" Initiative at the Ministry of Local Development, Dr. Abdelhamid El-Shabrawy, Advisor to the Minister of Social Solidarity for Statistics and Data Science, Mahmoud Abdel Azim, Assistant Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Nadia Halim, Sociology Professor at the National Center for Social Research, Dr. Mohamed El-Fouly, Professor at the National Center for Research and a member of the Egyptian Evaluation Society, Dr. Amira Abdel Latif, Director of Planning and Monitoring at the United Nations Development Programme, Dr. Ali Fath El-Bab, Head of the Integrated Development Sector at the Egypt Good Foundation, in addition to representatives from the "Decent Life" unit and the qualitative sectors at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.