Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has directed the government to deal with family development issues based on current social and cultural realities. He also underlined the need to complete all aspects of a national family development project, making use the efforts underway by various state bodies as part of a major rural development project, to verify the existing family database in targeted governorates. El-Sisi made the directives during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the ministers of planning, social solidarity, and health and population, in the presence of President of the National Council for Women (NCW) Maya Morsy and director of the planning ministry's Demographic Center Amira Tawadros. The meeting discussed the latest developments in the national family development project, which seeks to improve citizens' and family quality of life by focusing on social, demographic, cultural and health-related aspects, including women's economic empowerment and women's health issues, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Bassam Rady. The project also involves following up on premarital and post-marriage tests and couples' attendance of pre-marriage courses to improve demographic traits, detect genetic susceptibility to disease, prevent child marriage and eliminate female genital mutilation. The meeting also reviewed the efforts needed to make use of the success stories of some countries that had managed to keep population growth in check.
