About the project

EU Support to Egypt's National Population Strategy

For the first time, Egypt's 2014 Constitution guarantees equal political and economic rights for all population groups with a commitment to improving quality of life and public health. Egypt has been actively engaged in preparing and negotiating the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Government of Egypt remains committed to the effective implementation of these historical agreements through mutually beneficial cooperation to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, in order to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, while ensuring that none is left behind. In alignment with the 2030 Agenda, Egypt launched its own strategy for sustainable development; "Egypt Vision 2030."

This forward-looking strategy is unprecedented in its scope and significance at the national level and spans over the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. 

With the support of an EU-grant of €27 Million, UNFPA, upon the request of the Government of Egypt, led the drafting process of the National Population Strategy, assisted in its launch and promotion, and now holds the pen to facilitate its actual implementation and inter-institutional coordination.

UNFPA has a solid partnership and relation of trust with concerned governmental stakeholders, as well as a positive and politically neutral image towards the wider public. The final beneficiaries are Egyptians of reproductive age who will have more choices to decide on the size of their families, as well as the timing and spacing of children. 

The implementation of the National Population Strategy (NPS) is steered by a group of seven ministries (Health; Local Development; Education; Youth; Planning; Culture; Religious Endowment), chaired by the Prime Minister. The NPS' main executive body is the National Population Council that coordinates all related government activities with 43 ministries and agencies, as well as local governments. The Ministry of Health and Population’s Family Planning Sector manages the Family Planning programme at the central, governorate, district and service delivery levels. This includes procurement of contraceptives, training and supervision of service providers.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports plays a crucial role in managing and implementing population actions that aim at promoting a change in the perception of family planning among young people, with a particular focus on young men. It runs the youth centres and youth clubs used by the strategy for informal population education, and capacitates young people to lead community initiatives in favor of family planning.

The Ministry of Education will be involved in the action's demand-related component that targets school curricula and population / sexual and reproductive health education. To this end, universities and regional training centres will also be important partners providing technical assistance and capacities development.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) introduced the “Takafol” programme as the first national conditional cash transfer programme for impoverished and vulnerable families in Egypt. As a part of this programme, the ministry developed a database of 1.5 million of vulnerable families in Upper Egypt.These data should be used by the NPS as an entry point for community-based initiatives related to population growth and FP in Upper Egypt.

The Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform supports social reforms in Egypt and follows up on achievements of SDGs in all dimensions. Its horizontal role is essential to improve population governance and policy coordination.Particular emphasis is put on civil society organisations gathered under the umbrella of the largest
grassroots youth network, both globally and in Egypt: the Youth Peer Education Network of Organisations and Institutions (Y-PEER).