Egypt paid great attention to achieve social justice, develop unsafe areas: ECSS study

CAIRO – 14 June 2022: The Egyptian Center for Thought and Strategic Studies (ECSS) reviewed the state's efforts to achieve social justice in a study, revealing that the state has paid great attention to develop unplanned areas and slums throughout the past years.

According to the center, the number of unsafe areas developed from 2014 to 2020 was 296 out of a total of 357 areas.

Social justice is one of the basic human rights, and its achievement is linked to many personal and social gains. Individuals who enjoy that justice are the most able to work, produce and face crises, which leads to the achievement of the various goals of community development.

Aspects of achieving social justice, according to a study prepared by the Center presented by researcher Alaa Barani, entitled "Social Justice: 8 Years of Investment in Humans", were represented in the areas of: achieving adequate housing - developing the health and education systems - providing social protection.

The right to adequate housing is one of the basic axes of human rights. The Egyptian constitution issued in 2014 stipulated in Article 78 that “the state guarantees to citizens the right to adequate housing and health security in a manner that preserves human dignity and achieves social justice.”

Accordingly, the Egyptian state has strengthened efforts to achieve adequate housing with a more comprehensive view.

Development of unplanned and unsafe slums

The number of unsafe areas developed from 2014 to 2020 was about 296 out of a total of 357 areas. Work is still continuing on those areas, and the population in unsafe areas decreased by 35 percent in 2019.

Egypt’s sustainable development strategy aims to reduce the population in unsafe areas to 100 percent by 2030.

The “Housing for All Egyptians” project was launched per instructions of the President of the Republic, whoc directed the establishment of 500,000 housing units in major cities and governorates at the level of the country.

The area of ​​unplanned slums reached about 152 thousand acres in 2014, and the state worked to develop and raise the efficiency of these areas, resulting in the development of 53 areas with an area of ​​4,616 acres in 2020, at an estimated cost of 318 billion pounds.

Relocation in 3 ways

Issued in 2021, the Human Development Report stated that citizens are transferred from unsafe and unplanned slums in three ways, according to the desire of the mover, without coercion.

First: Immediate move to a house in a newly developed area in the same city.

Second: Financial compensation for finding alternative housing during the development period with the allocation of a similar unit after the completion of the area.

Third: Appropriate financial compensation for finding alternative housing in another area.

Alternative decent housing projects

The state has launched a number of projects to provide decent housing for citizens since 2014, the most prominent of which are: the “Bashayer Al-Khair” project in its three phases in Alexandria Governorate, the Al-Asmarat neighborhood project in Cairo, in addition to the Al-Mahrousa 1 project in Al-Nahda City, Al-Salam neighborhood.

Also the alternative-housing project at October Garden city has received until present time 1,066 families who used to dwell slums in Nazlet Al Seman, in Giza with more families expected to arrive as the number of residential units built for that purpose, within the first phase alone, is 2,500.

Supporting low, middle income earners

With regard to social housing, in 2014 it was announced the establishment of one million housing units to support low and middle income earners.

In addition to issuing Republican Decree No. 33/2014 and amended No. 93/2018 regarding social housing and real estate financing support. Accordingly, the number of beneficiaries of the social housing program until the year 2020 reached about 312,000 beneficiaries, who received cash support from the Social Housing Fund amounting to 4.9 billion pounds, and real estate financing amounted to 30.8 billion pounds.

Slum free

Egypt has set a target to be declared as slum-free by the end of the year 2021, after hazardous, unplanned housing has been sprawling for decades.

In 2014, Egypt launched plans to construct 250,000 housing units at the cost of L.E.63 billion to relocate citizens living in unsafe areas. The fund determined the number of slum areas to be 357 unsafe areas across the country.

In May 2016, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi promised to move all those living in slums to new flats over 3 years as part of an ambitious project expected to cost -then- about LE 14 billion ($790 million); however, the budget was upgraded until reaching LE 38 Billion.