Egypt's project to develop families targets population planning

Governmental fund to be established to grant incentives to families abiding by family planning guidelines

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said, on Tuesday, that the strategic goal of the National Project for Developing the Egyptian Family is to control population growth and to improve quality of life.
The Prime Minister's remarks came during a Cabinet meeting, where he was briefed on the final draft of the project's executive plan.
The meeting included Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development; Mohamed Omran, Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA); and other officials.
Madbouly urged for the executive plan's submission at next week's Cabinet meeting, following which it will be passed onto the President for review.
The project involves the economic empowerment of women aged between 18 and 45 by creating job opportunities for them. As part of this, 200 sewing workshops are being set up and equipped in 16 governorates, which will be affiliated to health units.
Additionally to this, one million women will receive training on entrepreneurship, while one million women-run micro businesses will be funded and facilitated.
Moreover, a governmental fund will be established to grant incentives to families abiding by family planning guidelines. Nurseries will be introduced to serve working mothers, and hospitals will be expanded to offer family planning services and healthcare to women and children, including providing all vaccinations.
Family planning methods will also be distributed among 400 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), that will be trained on safe storage of such products that shall be dispensed for free to women in need.
In addition, 1,500 female doctors will be trained to specialise in family planning and be distributed among healthcare establishments.
A total of 6 million women will be the target of an awareness campaign that will be implemented through 12 million home visits, 30,000 lectures, and 500 events.
Legislation shall be passed to criminalise underage marriage, and ensuring that penalties will include the guardian. Failure to register newborn babies will also be criminalised, with harsher penalties applied to child labour.
Earlier, the Prime Minister reviewed the investments allocated to achieve the presidential "Decent Life" initiative, to develop Egyptian villages. Madbouly confirmed that Egypt aims to increase the volume of government investments in fiscal year (FY) 2021/22, to implement many national service and development projects in rural villages.
Moreover, El-Said indicated that the government allocations will be directed to enhance the health sector. This will ensure that the construction and equipping of a number of hospitals is completed, in addition to improving the education sector by implementing new schools.
The investments will also include executing modern irrigation projects in villages across the country, in addition to completing 266 projects for providing clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure.