The United Nations together with the Ministry of Social Solidarity embark on a new endeavour that targets social policy and the poor in Egypt, writes Sara Abou Bakr The United Nation and the Social Solidarity Ministry (SSM) co-hosted the National Conference on Integrated Social Policies in Egypt on 7 February, to promote social policies in the Arab world. Several recommendations were made, including establishing an aid group that collaborates with SSM in implementing policy; the formation of an accurate database about poverty in Egypt; incorporating civil society and NGOs in the ministry's general policy; and emphasising social responsibility among the private sector. The two-day conference was attended by Social Solidarity Minister Ali Moselhi, ESCWA's Secretary-General Mervat Tellawy and the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Resident Coordinator James Rawley. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif met Moselhi and Tellawy to discuss the possibility of implementing the conference's recommendations, and showed conviction to social policy reform in Egypt. "Prime Minister Nazif was very interested in our cause and gave us until May to form a plan of action," Tellawy stated. A memorandum of understanding was later signed by SSM and ESCWA committing both sides to transforming recommendations into a tangible action programme. The conference, which was initially scheduled for July, 2006, was postponed several times due to the volatile situation in Lebanon. "We have been preparing for this conference for almost four months," commented former ambassador Ahmed Abul-Kheir, SSM's advisor for international cooperation and foreign relations. "You can only imagine how anxious we were to get this conference started." The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the UN body charged with promoting social and economic development, chose Egypt as the second regional stop for its mission; the first conference was held in Bahrain in April, 2006. "We are consolidating our efforts with member states to discuss and document the social development situation in each country," according to François Farah, ESCWA's Social Development Division chief. Other Arab countries which have expressed interest are Kuwait, Oman, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. ESCWA chose Egypt for three main reasons. First, Egypt is the largest country population-wise in the region, thus presenting a challenge for social development; second, it has already experimented with various social development programmes, making it familiar with the problems of marginalised groups; lastly, SSM showed keen interest in examining the country's social policies with the help of ESCWA, while focussing on public policies that can help people from falling into poverty. One of the major outcomes of the conference is that it "sharpened the understanding of key partners of social policy parameters, and [established] modalities of formulation and implementation," according to Farah. The conference covered two taskforces, one focussed on policy issues and harmonisation of programmes, while the other examined the relevance and performance of social service delivery programmes. Participants from various walks of life, including government representatives, took part and, "this diversity was a main reason for the success of the conference," according to Hoda Rashad, director and research professor at the Social Research Centre of the American University in Cairo and co-chair of the policy issues task force. "Our disagreements and discussions enriched the final output," believes Rashad. Five successful case studies, documented by ESCWA, were presented as modules for conquering social policy challenges. Despite the fact that these were located in Canada, Korea, Malaysia, Norway and Tunisia -- which all differ from Egypt in context -- the general methods used to tackle social policy problems there are useful. Guidelines such as forging a common understanding among constituencies, establishing priorities, allocating resources and managing the complexities of different social and economic programmes can all be helpful to Egypt. According to Abul-Kheir, the conference represented a realistic experience for participants, because "it was a rational representation of how various societal institutions can collaborate in forming and implementing social policies." An important issue raised by the social service delivery taskforce was the importance of identifying "vulnerable groups". Hoda Badran, co-chair of the social service delivery taskforce and head of the Arab Alliance for Women, explained that vulnerable groups are any number of people liable to be overlooked by the government system, thus making them prone to extreme poverty that eventually leads to criminal behaviour. "There are existing [vulnerable groups], but the bigger issue are those who are on the verge of becoming part of such groups," Badran warned. "Those need help in elevating their social status to prevent an even bigger problem." Meanwhile, Tellawy suggested that the Social Solidarity Ministry should change its name to become the Ministry of Social Development, because the former expresses a state of mind, while the latter denotes the combined goal of the ministry and society.
