UN supports Egypt with $1.2 billion in four pillars until 2022

CAIRO – 17 January 2018: The strategic framework for Egypt’s partnership with the United Nations for the period of 2018-2022 is worth $1.2 billion, as part of the state’s economic reform program, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Egypt Richard Dictus said.

Dictus elaborated that this partnership includes four pillars, which are: comprehensive economic development, social justice, women's empowerment and sustainable management of natural resources.

He affirmed the continuation of the strategic cooperation between Egypt and the UN institutions to achieve development, praising Egypt's experience in creating successful policies and programs for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurial activities, where job opportunities for youth and women were provided in all categories of income.

The UN resident coordinator said that the government's reform program is achieving good results, adding that the United Nations aims at having Egypt adopt comprehensive development tracks, and complete the achievement of the interim developmental goals for the population and the permanent access of all Egyptians to public services, Social, health, food, educational, good, equitable, inclusive and rights-based services by 2022.

He announced that the United Nations, through its cooperation with eight ministries and a number of government agencies, provided financial, technical and creative support to more than 202,000 small and medium enterprises. It has also trained about 94,000 young Egyptians, thus improving their chances of finding jobs.

This came during the meeting of the Follow-up Committee to the Strategic Framework for Partnership with the United Nations 2018-2022, which was headed by Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr, and attended by Head of Chief Executive Officer of the Small, Medium and Small Enterprises Development Agency Nivin Gamea, and representatives of the ministries of Investment, housing, utilities, urban communities, foreign affairs, justice, trade, industry, planning, education, health, population, environment, local development, social solidarity, manpower, agriculture and land reclamation.
Nasr said that the ambitious economic reform program implemented by the government is consistent with the overall economic development goals of the United Nations.

“Egypt has intensified its efforts to achieve the economic and social aspects of these goals in terms of job creation, more efficient use of public resources, support for entrepreneurship and creation of favorable conditions for sustainable investment and increased access of young people and women to employment and expansion in the SME sector,” Nasr said. “Thus achieving other developmental goals such as reducing poverty and hunger, gender equality and providing a social protection network for families by providing employment opportunities for their members,” She added.

The minister referred that the social justice axis supports the exerted national efforts, including the social protection, health, nutrition and education services, which are prioritized by the political leadership within the framework the state's efforts to invest in the human element.

“Women empowerment is meant to increase their capacity and participation in leadership positions and in many economic activities; in addition to enhancing their access to education and employment opportunities,” Nasr noted.