Egypt's UN Human Development Report reveals that new roles and responsibilities for civil society are needed to achieve social justice. Mona El-Fiqi leafs through the findings The focus of the tenth Egypt Human Development Report 2008, issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is the role of civil society in the national development process. The report, entitled Egypt's Social Contract: The Role of Civil Society, came out on 13 May and asserted that the battle is no longer between left or right ideologies, but about which practical system can manage and deliver better social justice. The findings, which were reached in collaboration with the Institute of National Planning, stated that social justice should be achieved through basic services and earning opportunities, higher levels of transparency and accountability, as well as more freedom of expression. The report suggested a set of mutually enriching partnerships between civil society, the public sector and the private sector to achieve the goals set in the national human development agenda. These goals are translated into 55 programmes outlined in the previous report, within the framework of the eight millennium development goals. These range from fighting poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS diseases, to promoting gender quality and providing universal primary education to be achieved by the year 2015. The report argued that greater civic participation, led by a body of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), will not only result in a more engaged citizenry but will also meet the development goals of improved public goods and their delivery. James W Rawley, UNDP resident representative, noted that this year's report builds on the previous report which identified the need for a new social contract in Egypt. It also called for a new relationship between the state and its citizens, whereby the state moves towards a more decentralised structure which allows more space for active citizen participation and a shared vision of reform. "The role of CSOs' is likely to expand as governments increasingly recognise the complexity of the development process and the impossibility of tackling issues such as unemployment, climate change, infectious diseases or education through the public sector alone," explained Rawley at the report's launching ceremony. Minister of Economic Development Osman Mohamed Osman said that there are a number of indicators which show that the living standards of Egyptians have improved in the past decade. "The human development indicators issued in 1997 ranked Egypt at 120 among 174 countries," revealed Osman. "In 2005, Egypt had moved up to position 112 among 177 countries." Moreover, the minister pointed out that the share of the individual in total domestic growth rose by 51 per cent, from $3,911 in 1996 to $5,900 in 2006. The UN human development reports have come to serve as an important platform for discussing critical human development issues at both national and sub-national levels. Osman said that previous findings served as guidelines for the government to address important issues, such as directing more investments and development projects to regions in the south of Egypt. Nonetheless, the 2008 report said that steps towards the millennium development goals are modest, such as the first goal of fighting poverty and halving the number of people living on less than $1 per day over the period 1990 to 2015. The report noted that although the overall percentage has declined from 8.2 per cent in 1990 to 3.4 per cent in 2005, as many as 11 governorates are not expected to achieve this goal unless drastic measures are taken now. Since Egypt has around 20,000 CSOs' delivering vital services and employing tens of thousands of people, the report outlined a set of recommendations and offered concrete proposals to encourage growth and innovation among CSOs. This is in addition to improving the legal and administrative environment within which they operate. The 2008 report highlighted six messages and related actions which would promote civil society and its organisations. The first is that CSOs are the most viable referee in re-establishing trust between the state and the citizen, since they are neither motivated by the quest for power nor profit. In fact, they are the closest organisations to local communities and grassroots. The second message is that CSOs are an effective vehicle for delivering on social programmes. "CSOs have been identified as key players for 31 out of the 55 new social contract programmes proposed in the previous report of 2005," underlined the report, "especially in service delivery to the poor, literacy, preschool education, conditional micro-credit youth and its clubs, and in environment protection." The third recommendation is that the government should retreat from its monopoly, particularly in the social services chain to make space for CSOs. Another conclusion is that using the current geographical mapping of CSOs is a key challenge in the battle against poverty. Geographical mapping is a new technique which shows the spatial relationship between the density of CSOs and the intensity of poverty and other measures of human deprivation. "To date, this relationship is negative in Egypt, leaving some geographic areas underserviced," asserted the report. The next message is that women can best claim their right to increased political and economic participation through CSOs. The report argued that since women have a comparative advantage in social and family affairs, they can serve well at these levels as a training ground for their social and political empowerment in local constituencies. Finally, the report stated that a national campaign could mobilise society by providing a forum and focussing on citizen awareness and participation.
