Egypt, EU, UNDP to implement €6M-project mitigating socio-economic impact of COVID-19

CAIRO – 21 January 2021: The Ministry of Social Solidarity, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed Thursday the COVID-19 Response Support Project worth €6 million to be delivered over three years.

The project consists of two aspects. One is reinforcing preventive measures among low-income families, particularly those of casual and seasonal workers, as well as the elderly in retirement homes affiliated to the ministry.

The other aspect is alleviating the socio-economic impact of the crisis by accomplishing productive projects that fulfill local market demands and create job opportunities in partnership with civil associations working with the ministry. That aspect is also concerned with digitalizing the ministry's infrastructure pertinent to delivering services to the beneficiaries of the social safety network, the disabled, and the elderly among others.

Minister Nevine al-Qabaj stated that the social safety network has been expanded to include segments of the population who risk living below poverty line.

Assistant to Minister of State for International Cooperation Dina Safwat, who is supervising partnerships with the UN organizations, underlined that $500 million were made available by the World Bank to strengthen Egypt's social safety network by increasing the number of citizens enrolled on the monetary subsidies program Takaful and Karama. Furthermore, $477 million are directed to the introduction of the Universal Health Insurance System in the country.