Egypt’s Ministry of Planning and Economic Development issues a report on population growth rates within the 2020/2021 plan

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development issued recently a report on population growth rates, targets for family planning programs, and mechanisms for working on them, as part of the current fiscal year 2020/2021 plan.Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, said that the development plan is keen to continue efforts aimed at improving the efficiency of human development indicators and improving the quality of life, through the provision of social and public services in terms of quantity and quality for all citizens, social groups and all regions of the state.She added that the application of the plan should be in a manner that achieves a balance between growth and social justice considerations within the framework of the "growth with equality" strategy, on which the sustainable development plan is based.El-Said asserted the interest of the medium-term plan for sustainable development to include the population dimension in all areas of development in recognition of the seriousness of the issue of population growth, adding that the plan also means affirming the importance of controlling population growth and activating the relevant programs to ensure the improvement of the quality of life for the Egyptian family.El-Said explained that the high rate of population growth in recent times called for confirmation of interest in controlling population growth.The current year’s plan includes several program mechanisms aimed at controlling population growth according to the report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, which, if activated, would achieve several positive results, including increasing the average real per capita income and making more public utility services and social structure available for low-income groups. In addition to improving the quality of the public services provided and improving the environmental system by reducing the problems of pollution, congestion, noise, slums, and the deterioration of the state of facilities, as well as reducing the financial burden on the state budget.The report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development dealt with the targets of family planning programs and mechanisms of action, as population growth control programs aim to improve family planning and reproductive health services, especially in rural areas, intensify awareness campaigns, and link cash support to adherence to family planning controls.The report also includes activating literacy and female employment programs, preventing child labor, and reformulating religious discourse to correct misconceptions, in recognition of the danger of uncontrolled overpopulation.The mechanisms of programs aimed at controlling population growth, according to the report, include the promotion - in general - of family planning services and reproductive health, especially in rural areas, by providing adequate funds from family planning methods, especially effective ones according to standard standards while making them available at reasonable prices.The report went on to present the mechanisms of programs aimed at controlling population growth, which include encouraging NGOs to play a major role in providing family planning services, as well as expanding the scope of the population reduction program "2 enough", which began to be implemented in (10) governorates in Upper Egypt, aiming to cover one million people, to include all governorates of the program, while expediting the implementation of the following stages of the program, and the required equipment.The work mechanisms also included positive incentives for small families within community development programs, anti-poverty programs, and conditional cash support, resorting to more stringent methods and policies in the case of families that do not comply with the targeting of birth control.The report pointed out that the strict application of laws that prohibit child labor so that they are not seen as a source of income and the increase in female employment rates and training programs that provide them with opportunities to join the labor market are among the mechanisms of programs aimed at controlling the rate of population growth. In addition to the contemporary formulation of religious discourse to correct false values and against the concept of family planning, and to intensify media campaigns with the consequences of population increase, with the design of mass media and methods of communication that is more compatible with the target groups, as it is intended to educate about 15 million women of childbearing age.The report reviewed some developmental targets to curb the population increase within the framework of the 20/2021 plan, as it is intended that the number of female beneficiaries of family planning methods will reach 20.4 million by 2021/2021, with the number of new female beneficiaries of family planning methods reaching 2.85 million.