United Nations official praises Egypt's experience in supporting informal employment

CAIRO - 11 May 2020: The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Elena Banova, praised the Egyptian measures to confront the Corona pandemic, saying “I would like to congratulate the Egyptian government for the strong and decisive response to the Corona crisis.” This came during her first press interview after taking office two months ago.

"The Egyptian government has rushed to put in place incentives to support the most affected groups," the UN official said, adding, "We at the United Nations appreciate what the Egyptian government has done to expand already existing social security networks, such as the dignity program, which also included the employment of irregular workers through direct cash support.

The UN representative added, "The Egyptian state has also stimulated the tourism sector and small and medium-sized companies," noting that these decisive measures have already shown good and tangible results.

Banova praised the Egyptian measures, explaining "Egypt is the only country in the Middle East that has a positive GDP after the pandemic," adding that the indicators of unemployment were positive, decreasing from 9 to 7 percent, stressing that some indicators have returned to pre-Corona levels.

She pointed out that the government's greater focus was on the most affected groups, which made the Egyptian government's response more distinguished. "We at the United Nations are working closely with the Egyptian government to assess the negative impact on the groups most affected by the pandemic," Banova concluded.