250K youths engaged in Egypt’s NACDW activities to draw cooperation map between state, civil society

CAIRO - 17 July 2023: The National Alliance for Civil Development Work (NACDW) has been working to expand cooperation between the state and civil society to serve citizens.

The state has secured a legislative umbrella for this cooperation through which the alliance works as a law submitted to the House of Representatives in this regard has been approved last week.

NACDW has succeeded in drawing up policies for the work of major associations in a participatory and integrated manner, spending LE 12 billion in 10 months to assist 30 million citizens.

The alliance has provided food aid to 25 million citizens and also received 5 million citizens in hospitals and medical centers owned by its members.

Meanwhile, the alliance has secured 39,500 job opportunities through small and medium projects, especially livestock projects.

NACDW also succeeded in integrating 250,000 young volunteers into its activities as one of the most important gains of having all these institutions under one umbrella to encourage the largest number of young people to volunteer.

The National Alliance was launched in March 2022 to include more than 30 entities, including civil institutions, service and development associations and charity organizations.

The institutions under the alliance work in various fields of service, health, awareness, education and urban development.

MP Nevin Al-Kateb, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Alliance, confirmed that NACDW constitutes a pioneering idea in which the Egyptian state succeeded in serving citizens in light of the economic challenges facing the world, which also cast a shadow on Egypt.

The alliance plays a vital role in supporting citizens and providing important services that relieve their burdens, Kateb said.

NACDW’s initiatives have contributed to enhancing economic and social security by ensuring food security for the neediest citizens, Kateb said.

NACDW law

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives gave a final approval to a draft law submitted by MP Tarek Radwan and 60 MPs regarding NACDW.

The draft law stipulates that it is permissible by a presidential decision to establish NACDW as a non-profit organization that has a legal personality and enjoys technical, financial and administrative independence.

As per the law, the alliance has its headquarters in Cairo and can open branches abroad with the approval of the president.

Presidential support

In August last year, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered allocating LE 1 billion in support to NACDW by the government, increasing the total funding provided by the state to the alliance until that time to LE 10 billion.

Sisi praised the alliance’s social activities, calling for the charity and development entities of the alliance to expand activities regarding creating jobs and increasing production.

The president’s announcement came a few days after the alliance announced allocating LE 2.4 billion to support 400,000 needy families on a monthly basis over the course of a year amid the current global crisis.

NACDW is known for its Shoulder-To-Shoulder initiative, the largest social protection initiative in the Egyptian history that aims to provide food to 20 million people.

In a ceremony after kicking off the initiative last March, Sisi said the launch of the initiative and the efforts deployed to make it succeed constitute a response to recent attempts to intimidate the Egyptian people amid the ongoing challenges.