CAIRO – 11 October 2021: UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova, said on Monday that ‘Decent Life’ or ‘Haya Karima’ presidential initiative is the biggest project of its kind around the world that aims to improve the quality of life for rural citizens.
During meeting with Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Sharawy, she added that the UN is welling to contribute with all its technical expertise in promoting this ‘ambitious program’.
Egypt’s Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Sharawy received on Monday UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova to discuss aspects of future cooperation between the two sides.
The meeting was attended by a number of United Nations officials in Egypt and the ministry.
During the meeting Shaarawy praised the historical relations between Egypt and the United Nations over the past years and stressed the ministry's aspiration to strengthen cooperation relations with the United Nations and all its affiliated organizations operating in Egypt to achieve the sustainable development goals adopted by the Egyptian government.
Shaarawy reviewed the most important features of ‘Haya Karima’ initiative launched by President Sisi and being to improve the standard of life in the Egyptian countryside.
He noted that the initiative started with developing the live inside 208 in the governorates of Sohag, Qena, Minya and Assiut.
Shaarawy said that the first phase of the presidential initiative ‘Haya Karima’ was also finished in 375 rural communities in the governorates at a cost of LE 7 billion and benefited about 4.5 million citizens. He added that 1,300 projects were implemented providing more than 550 thousand Temporary and permanent job opportunities for villagers.
For her part, Panova stressed the importance of the pivotal role played by the Ministry of Local Development in coordinating with the governorates, pointing out its interest in cooperating with the Ministry to support local communities, especially in the villages most in need, expressing her aspiration to strengthen cooperation relations with the Egyptian government.
Panova also hailed President Abdel Fattah el Sisi's initiative ‘Haya Karima’ to develop the Egyptian rural villages, stressing the UN readiness to contribute with all its technical expertise in promoting this ‘ambitious program’ in order to achieve the goals of ‘Decent Life’ initiative announced by President el Sisi and the government to improve the lives of citizens.
Panova said that ‘Haya Karima’ considers to be the largest of its kind in the world and will contribute to improving the indicators of quality of life for rural citizens in many areas, especially services, education, health and providing job opportunities for women and youth.
She added that the Egyptian government is making great efforts in terms of developing infrastructure, utilities and services for citizens in all governorates, and empowering women and youth.
Last July, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli described Haya Karima national project as an “icon” project for Egypt’s re-building process with the aim of developing the life of more than the half of Egyptians.
He added that Haya Karima is truly Egypt's 21st century project. “It is all over the country and involves thousands of simultaneous projects” Madbouly said.
In his speech at Haya Karima national project first conference, Madbouli described Haya Karima as a 100 percent Egyptian venture with total of investments of EGP 700 billion, including EGP 270 billion in the initial phase.
He pointed out that the project is an orchestrated work of construction and building in all Egyptian governorates covering an area which houses around 58 percent of the whole population.
The premier added that the main objective of the project, as defined by President Sisi, is to change the lives of Egyptians for the best, noting that it will also help achieve the UN sustainable development goals for 2030.
“Haya Karima” is a national project to develop the Egyptian countryside. It started as an initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on 2 January, 2019.
It was then transformed into a national project early in 2021 with the aim of improving the living conditions and the quality of life for the neediest categories of the rural society nationwide and contributing to advancing the level of daily services provided to citizens.
The “Haya Karima” project seeks to unify the efforts of all the state’s institutions in cooperation with the civil society, the private sector companies and the development partners inside and outside Egypt in the sustainable development field
The project also aims, through eliminating multi-dimensional poverty, to alleviate the burden shouldered by the citizens, especially the neediest families in the targeted villages and centers totaling 4,658 villages with total investments estimated at LE 700 billion.
This contributes to improving the life of more than half of the Egyptian population through setting an integrated developmental roadmap which its goals and axes are consistent with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
This comes through securing a comprehensive array of services and that include decent housing, health, education, culture, infrastructure, clean environment and productive communities to ensure sustainable development in the targeted villages and centers.
The project’s goals are advancing the economic, social and environmental levels of the neediest families in poor villages, empowering them to obtain all primary services, security job opportunities for these communities and maximizing their production capabilities in a way that ensures a decent life for them.
The project also aims at organizing the efforts of the civil society, enhancing the cooperation between civil society and all state institutions and encouraging local communities to participate in building human capabilities and boosting the value of the homeland.
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