Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed five grant agreements worth $45m with Sherry Carlin, the USAID mission director in Egypt, according to a Wednesday ministerial press release. The press release clarified that the signed agreements include the fields of agriculture, higher education, science and technology, health, and governance, noting that the first agreement is for the Ministry of Health and Population, worth $5m, aiming at boosting Egypt's current family planning and reproductive health programme to make it more effective and sustainable. The 2018 Demographic and Health Survey will benefit from the new funds for analysis and dissemination of high-quality data on health and population, comparing the local conditions to the global situation, mentioned the press release. The second agreement for higher education, worth $27m, aims at supporting the US-Egypt Higher Education Initiative, developing a well-educated workforce that supplies the job market's needs, boosting job opportunities, and increasing numbers of scholarships of the American universities and faculties. The third agreement is for continuing the American-Egyptian cooperation for science and technology with $4m. The Ministry of Higher Education will benefit from the funds to expand relations with the technological and scientific communities in both countries to exchange information, ideas, skills, and mechanisms of common interest. The statement noted that the fourth agreement is for continuing the agricultural works of rural development and boosting incomes in Beni Suef, Minya, Asyut, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan with $3.5m for the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. The fifth agreement is for the governmental management initiative and sharing programme worth $5.3m for the Ministries of Justice and Social Solidarity, the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and the National Council for Woman, aiming at supporting Egypt to build law sovereignty over the building capacity of Egypt's judgement system, enhancing management of election processes, increasing citizens participation, and offering information about elections. On the occasion of the signing ceremony, Nasr said that the new agreements reaffirm the strategic relations with the US, especially the economic cooperation, noting that the agreements come in line with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's directives to invest in people and building capacity. For her part, the USAID mission director in Egypt said that the new agreements in the fields of health, education, governance, and agriculture ensure the strong and lasting partnership between both countries, adding, “we continue our commitment to work with the Egyptian government towards a more prosperous economic future for the Egyptian people.” “The USAID has worked with the Egyptian people for over 40 years. $30bn were invested by the American people in Egypt through USAID since 1978 to promote health, education, and employment opportunities for the Egyptian people,” mentioned Carlin.
