4K of the neediest Egyptian villages witness comprehensive development as part of Haya Karima

CAIRO – 29 August 2021: Some 4,741 villages in 26 governorates are witnessing widescale development as part of Haya Karima initiative. With over 18 million beneficiaries, the initiative comes in three phases.

The first phase includes villages with a poverty level 70 percent or higher. The second phase has villages with a poverty level of 50-70 percent. The third includes villages with poverty levels below 50 percent.

According to a study by the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS), the neediest villages are determined according to their poor basic services and infrastructure such as sanitation and drinking water, low level of education, high density in school classes, high need for health services, poor road networks and high poverty levels of families in the village.

The project takes on a comprehensive dimension, not a specific sector. It rather seeks a comprehensive development in Upper Egypt’s villages including sanitation, drinking water, roads, telecommunications, transportation, electricity, environment, housing, education, health, women, children, those with special needs. It also tries to raise income by increasing production, job opportunities and diversifying income resources.

It also supports NGOs by training and qualifying citizens to be part of communal participation in all the phases of planning, administering, and managing projects and services.

The initiative is a role model in partnering between the government and the civil society, Tahya Misr Fund, and the private sector to maximize the benefits of the initiative and to reach the highest number of families in need, ECSS said.