High mortality rates due to suicide pose an obstacle to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 3, which states “to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by one third through prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being by 2030.”

In this context, this research paper deals with the phenomenon of suicide in detail through a number of axes :

First: definition of suicide and its types
Second: Groups at risk of suicide and the methods used
Third: indicators and rates of suicide globally
Fourth: the phenomenon of suicide in Egypt
Fifth: the Egyptian state’s efforts to reduce suicides Sixth: recommendations

First: Definition of suicide and its types

Suicide can be defined as killing oneself (a person killing himself consciously or unconsciously, or the act that involves a person intentionally causing his own death, while the World Health Organization defines suicide as the act of killing oneself intentionally).

There are several classifications regarding the types of suicide of the French scientist ” Emile Durkheim” :

1-selfish suicide : It is caused by an individual’s feeling of separation from society, the presence of special problems such as separation from a loved one or the death of a loved one .

2-suicide to please others: Suicide of patients, widows, terrorists and others.

3-suicide due to lack of authority in society and the state Such as financial and economic crises and wars that cause a rift in the social system.

4-fatalistic suicide : Due to excessive repression and lack of hope for the future, such as the mass suicide of some tribes and groups.

Second: Groups at risk of suicide and the methods used

The World Health Organization confirms that there is a close connection between suicide and mental disorders, especially in countries with high incomes among alcoholics.

Some people also resort to suicide due to some financial and social crises such as divorce, pain, and chronic diseases

The international organization also explained that there is a strong link between conflicts, disasters, violence, abuse, or loss of loved ones, and feelings of isolation with suicidal behavior. Suicide rates are high among vulnerable groups who suffer from discrimination, such as refugees, migrants, indigenous peoples and prisoners.

It also confirmed that about 20% of global suicide cases are due to pesticide poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries, in addition to other common suicide methods such as hanging or firing gunshots.

Third: Global suicide indicators and rates

Although collecting accurate data on suicide rates worldwide faces many challenges, WHO provides figures that indicate the extent of the suicide problem worldwide, as rates vary between countries and regions, and also vary between males and females.

Some of the organization’s most notable statistics include:

1-the number of people who die annually due to suicide is estimated at 703 thousand people.

2-more than 79% of global suicides in 2019 occurred in low-and middle-income countries.

3-suicide ranked fourth among the leading causes of death in the category of young people between the ages of 15 to 29, after road accidents, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence.

4- Only 80 countries have good data on civil registration by which suicide rates can be estimated.

5-the number of males who die by suicide is more than twice as many as the number of females

(12.6 out of every 000-100 males compared to 5.4 out of every 000-100 females).

6. Suicide rates among men are generally higher in high-income countries (16.5 out of every 000 100)

7-for females, the highest suicide rates are recorded in the countries of the lower middle income segment

(7.1 out of every 0000 100).

8. Suicide rates in the OIC regions of Africa (11.2 per 000 100), Europe (10.5 per 000 100) and South-East Asia (10.2 per 000 100) were higher than the global average (9 per 000 100) in 2019, while the lowest suicide rate was recorded in the eastern Mediterranean region (6.4 per 000 100).

9-suicide rates recorded a decrease during the twenty years from 2000 to 2019, where the global rate decreased by 36% and the decline ranged from 17% in the eastern Mediterranean region to 47% in Europe and 49% in the western Pacific region, but suicide rates increased by 17% during the same period in the Americas region.

10-pesticide poisoning causes 20% of all suicides

11-for some countries of Southern Africa and Eastern Europe, the estimated suicide rates are high, with annual deaths exceeding 15 per 100 thousand people.

Meanwhile, for other countries of Europe, South America and Asia, the estimated suicide rates are lower, with annual deaths less than 10 per 100 thousand people.

12- The World Health Organization explained that the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world in 2019 were India, China, the United States of America, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia, and Mexico.

13- Some major countries have recorded record numbers in suicide rates, such as the United States of America, Japan, Brazil, and South Korea, especially in the age group of 25-34 years.

14-according to the data of the International Organization, Jordan, Syria, Venezuela, Honduras and the Philippines are among the lowest countries in the number of suicides.

On the other hand, the indicators of the International Association for Suicide Prevention have shown the following :

1-more than half (58%) of all deaths due to suicide occur before the age of 50 years.

2. Suicides in all regions of the world, however, more than (77%) of global suicides in 2019occurred in low-and middle-income countries.

-3- (20%) of all suicides are the result of pesticide ingestion, especially in rural agricultural environments, and hanging and firearms are also common methods of suicide

4- suicide is still illegal in more than 20 countries, while people who engage in suicidal behavior may be punished in some countries, including legal penalties ranging from a small fine or a short prison sentence to life imprisonment.

Fourth: Suicide in Egypt

A study conducted by the National Center for social and criminal research showed that the causes of suicide in Egypt :

– Social reasons: include family disputes and pressures after divorce, ill-treatment from the family, infidelity of the husband, marital violence, refusal to divorce the wife and involvement in an illicit relationship, being raped and resulting in pregnancy, the presence of a romantic relationship and the family’s refusal to marry the girl.

– Acute psychopathological causes: including depression, feeling of loss after the death of the father, and severe sadness after the death of the mother.

– Educational difficulties: which cause individuals to feel a sense of failure and frustration and expose them to bullying .

– Economic reasons: include unemployment, financial hardship, accumulation of debt.

The study also pointed out that unofficial figures confirm the high suicide rates in Egypt over the past few years, while there are no official statistics on suicide in Egypt, which explains the limited registration of the percentage of suicides, as according to popular culture, the family of the suicide is stigmatized and the family always works to deny and disavow it.

– It should also be noted that according to the data of the central agency for mobilization and statistics, the number of suicides in 2018 amounted to 89 people, 66 males and 23 females, while the number of suicides decreased in 2019, as Egypt witnessed 75 confirmed suicides, 54 of them men, and 21 suicides of women, and the number of suicides jumped in 2020 to 101 suicides, of which 74 men decided to end his life, compared to the suicide of 27 women, while The data of the central agency for mobilization and statistics showed that over the past three years, the most suicidal age groups were young people, especially those in the second and third decades of their lives.

– Also, data from a study prepared by the secretariat of mental health and addiction treatment at the Ministry of Health showed that 29.2% of Secondary School students suffer from psychological problems, and 21.7% of them are thinking of suicide, while Egypt witnessed 2,584 suicides during 2021, according to a statistic issued by the Attorney General’s office

Fifth: the Egyptian state’s efforts to reduce suicides

1-Al-Azhar Al-Sharif launched the “you are precious to US ” initiative, which aims to provide self-support to young people and help them solve problems and face challenges that make them think about getting rid of their lives

2-the establishment of the first government clinic to be opened to face the problem of suicide.

3-launching a hotline to communicate with specialists to get help or advice in case of problems and challenges that lead to a person to get rid of his life.

4-the announcement of the psychological and emergency support hotline and psychological consultations of the general secretariat of mental health at the Ministry of Health and population to receive inquiries and psychological support and support those wishing to commit suicide, which is the number 08008880700 from any landline.

The National Council for mental health has launched a hotline to receive psychological inquiries, which is number 20818102 .

The Al-Azhar Center for e-fatwas has launched a number of awareness campaigns on its official pages via social networking sites to warn against the phenomenon of suicide, the development of religious awareness among young people, and the warning of electronic games that lead to suicide such as the Blue Whale and other destructive games.
Sixth: recommendations

Of course, more efforts can be made to confront the phenomenon of suicide in Egypt, which can be summarized as follows :

1-developing a national strategy at the level of the relevant state institutions to combat suicide.

2-launching a national campaign through the media and social media about the risk of suicide.

3-expanding the establishment of therapeutic institutions, especially those concerned with psychological and social intervention in order to improve mental health.

4-increasing the treatment programs for personality disorders and mental illnesses.

5-increasing awareness of the nature of mental illnesses and their danger to the health of individuals and the danger of social stigma, which may be an obstacle for the patient to seek help and treatment.

6-providing an accurate and detailed database on the number of suicides and their motives in order to develop the necessary measures to eliminate this phenomenon.

7-increasing the number of field and scientific researches dealing with the phenomenon of suicide and its motives to identify the causes of the phenomenon and its treatment.

8-spreading the culture of hope and optimism through dramatic works, and directing religious institutions to spread the culture of love of life and acceptance of the other while strengthening the religious consciousness among young people and raising awareness that suicide is one of the major sins.

9-raising awareness among parents of the importance of following the behavior of their children, which allows early detection of any of the signs or indications of the son’s resort to suicide

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Not only have all signs of closeness and affinity born in the human customs and traditions and associated with social interaction and communication such as greetings, salutes, handshakes, hugs, high-fives, etc., been shunned and frowned upon, but also business, trade, projects, plans, travel, transportation, trade, importation and exportation, etc., have all been suspended, halted, or at least cut short. In other words, the potential and reality of the millennium objectives, ambitions, and inspirations have been questioned by Covid-19, which caused a damning exposé of all the defects within most, if not all, of the international regimes. It has been proven to the public that the manifestations of development and progress many countries brag about are “All crown, no filling”.

In this context, a recent United Nations report points out the effects of this epidemic on the 17 sustainable development goals, explaining how this catastrophe may prompt the organization to rearrange its goals and priorities following the pandemic, for which there is no reliable indicator to predict a forthcoming end, or a total estimate of its expected material and human losses. The report concluded that the epidemic has hampered food production and supplies distribution, and brought about inability of large human groups to access clean water, depriving them even from washing their hands properly. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, there are 3 billion people globally who may not have access to basic hand washing facilities in their homes. Perhaps this is what made these groups more vulnerable to the epidemic. In this regard, the report also indicated that slum dwellers are more susceptible to infection with the virus due to the fact that slums are the most overcrowded areas and have an abysmal lack of hygiene and disinfection material. Additionally, this epidemic has caused the health systems in most countries to be unable to receive and seat for all those infected with the virus, not to mention its disastrous impact on the medical staff themselves.

With regard to education, the report indicated that nearly 1.25 billion learners, equal to 72.9% of the total registered learners around the world, were affected by the outbreak of the corona virus until last March, forcing the closure of too many schools, and urging lots of governments to resort to distance education, which was deemed by several experts insufficient and unattainable for most students. According to the report, the epidemic has caused a violation of the principle of gender equality, depriving women of a large part of their income, in addition to increasing the rate of violence directed at them. Since women represent the largest segment of health and social care workers, they are again more vulnerable to infection.

As for work environments and economic growth, the International Labor Organization has forecast that nearly 25 million people will lose their jobs due to the economic and labor crisis caused by the pandemic. The organization warned that people who have temporary jobs may not receive the social protection they need in times of crisis. The organization has called on governments to guarantee at least a basic level of social security for their citizens, and to progressively ensure adequate levels of protection for as many people as possible, and as soon as possible. Another big deal the U.N report points to is the economic losses countries are likely to incur as a result of the spread of this epidemic, since its spread led to the disruption or cessation of many economic activities, in addition to a reduction in working time and workers number, eventually leading to a decline in the level of income and an increase in the unemployment rate. The fact that numerous families and communities fall below the poverty line make them the most vulnerable groups who usually pay a heavy price in crises.

Perhaps the only positive side in that situation is that the spread of this epidemic, as indicated by the report, prompted the U.N to issue an urgent global call for a cease-fire worldwide. The United Nations also called for a unified international effort to combat the disaster, stressing that the anger of the virus illustrated the folly of war, and that it was high time for the armed conflict to halt, and for regimes to focus on the real battle for the sake of peoples’ lives. The people most likely to suffer the devastating losses of the virus are residents of conflict-ridden societies.

Despite the growing opposition against globalization driven by the outbreak of the virus, and the government’s disregard to climate improvement activities and programs, with international cooperation efforts merely devoted for public health, the decline in production rates and the decrease in transportation and commute have accidentally effected a decline in the environmental pollution rates. In conclusion, the report makes it clear that most of the efforts made by world governments to confront Corona are defensive efforts that may not achieve the desired results. Not only through defense do we win the battle, but primarily through offense can we defeat this malicious enemy. Hence, we do need to engage the viral enemy with aggressive clear-target tactics.

Corona and the Crisis of the State Social Role:

Although the repercussions of the emerging covid-19 are not over yet, researchers and those concerned with development in most countries of the world have gone beyond addressing these consequences, and proceeded to discuss the future of development following the not yet determined end of that pandemic. Talking about the future of development in view of such constantly increasing rates of infection is pure absurdity!

Since the pandemic have typically halted all strategic plans of the majority of institutions, societies, and even individuals alike, the only rationale plan under the unstoppable spread of this pandemic, which coincides with an unprecedented rise in the rate of infection and death, would be the plan to prevent infection with the virus. Consequently, it is not acceptable to close the eyes to these repercussions or stop addressing and dealing with them. The pandemic has had so many victims, mostly women, the elderly, as well as the nongovernmental and nonofficial laboring classes.

Since the pandemic has exposed the shortfalls in health systems in several countries in the world with no distinction between rich or poor countries, we must agree that the health and social insurance services provide coverage only for the working classes and only until retirement age, overlooking the unemployed groups and those over the work age, of which women naturally constitute a large part. Only workers in the official economic sector can benefit from these services, with no covering for the marginal or non-official economic sector.

Although the virus does not discriminate between people on the basis of their wealth, the level of income has to do with the available coping mechanisms, as the low-income workers do not have the ability to do their work remotely and do not get paid if they are absent from work. With home confinement continuing and economies entering recession, the poorest segments of society, who make up the majority of citizens, will be unjustly affected. Temporary workers will find it impossible to deal with the repercussions of this situation. However, we do not seem to have a solid plan on how to minimize the economic and social damage caused by this pandemic. This is not the case in Egypt solely. I believe the absence of an effective plan for equitable health care and protection has undoubtedly become a global issue.

In this context, we cannot deny that there are many challenges facing temporary employment in all its forms, whether seasonal, day-to-day or wage-earning. Those suffering from difficult living conditions, exorbitant cost of accessing health services, dependence on aid or daily wages, a shortage of legal protection, national loaning or insurance coverage, and deprivation of education; are on top of that facing, along with the entire world, the challenge of the emerging global epidemic. Given that these fragile groups of workers are among the groups mostly affected by the absence of a just health system, health care has become not only an ethical but also a political requirement, as the first priority and the only guarantee of stability in social, economic and political components.

This pandemic highlighted the significance of investing in health infrastructure and systems so as to develop positive response to emerging needs, and to deal with globalized epidemics, restoring the social role of the state represented in protecting health security, as well as the pivotal role of the public health sector, especially due to its comprehensiveness and the limited financial obstacles to obtaining its services when compared to the private sector.

Considering the multiplicity and complexity of the impacts of this cursed virus, thinking should not be confined to the defensive position, but we ought to thinks seriously about how to turn this epidemic into an added opportunity for development, and a conducive atmosphere for integrity and solidarity among all sectors of the state which have no alternative to supporting and investing in health development, in a way that serves the achievement of universal coverage objectives with equitable health systems, “seeking the noble goal of health for all”.

Therefore, we should now agree that profitable health institutions, no matter how large and various they are, do not constitute fair health systems, and will forever remain competing corporations, whose number one commodity is human health. Consequently, we cannot combat this epidemic, except by eliminating the phenomenon of “commodification of human health”. This requires a real change in the mentality of those in charge of formulating health care policies, but then again that will not be possible except by setting an overall policy that exalts the value of health, and categorically rejects the commodification of human health.

Corona and Traditional Forms of Social Protection:

Corona has drawn up a test for the traditional forms of social protection. Today, global social policies are at a crossroads, as traditional aid programs have failed to protect the most vulnerable and the poorest from economic risks. This prompted the major economic and development institutions in the world to talk about a “Universal Basic Income,” which aims to provide a stable income for all citizens without exception, so that they can meet their basic needs, in an attempt to reduce inequality among people, while giving priority in protection to the groups most at risk, such as unofficial workers, the elderly and the unemployed. The Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a fixed amount provided by the state to all its citizens, without exception, regardless of income or work position. In this regard, there are several proposals for implementation. While some see that the state should disburse these sums on a weekly or monthly basis, there are those who consider giving the citizen the full amount as soon as they reach the age of 18.

The amount varies from one country to another, but the constant is that the amount is as much as the average basic needs of the individual in a particular country. This system has been referred to by several terms, including the unconditional basic income, the citizen’s income, and the basic insurance system. Although this system may seem somewhat socialist, it is strange though that most of the capitalist class supports it! While some see the need to implement the system in order to redistribute wealth and restore the lost balance, and that it is a good ground for achieving economic security, which gives people an opportunity to continue education, training, and planning for the future; there are those who believe that paying people money without working leads them to lose the motive to have a job.

Regarding the Egyptian situation, the International Monetary Fund has made a calculation for the application of the universal basic income in Egypt, in which it presented three scenarios to reduce poverty, the fixed or universal basic income being the bottom line. Although the financial amount decided for the proposed basic income in the three scenarios is weak and the cost of granting it to citizens is not great, it still contributes significantly to reducing poverty rates, bearing in mind that the application of such universal basic income scheme is not a substitute for other social protection programs, but rather a complement to them.

In the first scenario, the state grants all citizens a lump sum of 725 Egyptian pounds annually. The cost of this scenario does not exceed 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the small amount, it contributes to reducing the poverty rate by 4.1%, and also contributes to reducing inequality by 6 points based on the Gini coefficient. While in the second scenario the same amount is directed to groups of children under the age of 17. Usually, this option contributes to reducing the poverty rate by 5.6%, and its cost does not exceed 1.3% of GDP. In the third scenario, support or basic income is directed to children and the elderly over 65. The cost of this scenario is 1.5% of GDP. This option contributes to reducing the poverty rate by 6.1%. Apparently, Universal basic income can be applied gradually between different population groups, as well as between different geographical areas.

Perhaps all of these scenarios push our minds to think outside the box and reconsider the traditional social protection programs that rely on cash support either conditional or unconditional, emphasizing that these programs do not actually reduce poverty; but rather, their role is limited to maintaining the survival of the poor, and also emphasizing that continuing to provide cash support for a period exceeding three years is a negative indicator, which confirms the inadequacy of the social protection programs to rid the poor of poverty. The real confrontation with poverty lies in establishing a culture of work and production and facilitating all means toward that aim, which can happen through replacing cash support programs with ones that provide the means and tools of production for the poor.

The Egyptian model of contemporary reform and development has been able to transcend the traditional antireform predicaments, the most important of which being the inability of multiple human categories and production patterns to keep pace with the reform policies. This leads to high rates of marginalization, poverty and vulnerability, which often prompted countries to gradually retreat from the idea of complete reform for fear of massive popular uprisings that might undermine all the returns of reform. However, the uniqueness of the Egyptian reform program lies in its integration into a comprehensive sustainable development plan, for the duration of over 15 years, from 2015 to 2030.

Before Egypt began the first steps of reform, represented in floating the pound or liberalizing the exchange rate in November 2016, the Egyptian government had adopted an ambitious national program for social protection in 2015. The government entrusted its implementation to the Ministry of Social Solidarity with the aim of providing cash support to desperate families. The cash support program (Solidarity and Dignity) was then transformed into a conditional cash support program. There is no support for the illiterate, no support for dropping out of school, no support for lack of health care, and subsequently no support for early-marriage girls, the latest condition for obtaining cash support from the Ministry of Solidarity set by Mrs. Nevin Al-Kabbaj in the first half of 2021. The number of beneficiaries of this program to date has reached 3.8 million families, totaling 15 million beneficiaries out of 29.7 million poor people in Egypt, according to the latest report of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

Around 2017, with a loan of $12 billion from the International Monetary Fund, the Egyptian government started to implement the economic reform program, during which the poverty rate witnessed a remarkable increase from 27.8% in 2015 to 32.4% in 2018. The Ministry of Social Solidarity announced that the monetary support policies along with the concept of complete dependence on the state must be changed, and then the policies of the Solidarity and Dignity program were altered to encourage production. At this time, the Ministry of Social Solidarity launched the “Chance” program, which guarantees the provision of an appropriate job opportunity for those who are able to benefit from the Solidarity and Dignity program as an alternative to cash support. Accordingly, the entire policies of the Egyptian government have shifted from a welfare state to a developmental state, in a way that subsequently reduced the poverty rate to 29.7% in 2020.

That was on the level of social reforms that preceded and coincided with the implementation of the economic reform program, but the state tended to invest in everything, even in the desert. For instance, housing policies turned to invest in desert areas to solve the housing crisis in Egypt by building more than 20 residential communities and more than 14 administrative capitals, and 22 other public buildings are being established in the Egyptian governorates. Hence, the price per square meter in the desert increased from 150 pounds at most to 14 thousand pounds at least. With such policies, the overpopulated areas in Egypt were relatively depopulated and, in return, the number of inhabited areas increased, while preserving human and cultural diversity through the establishment of tourist, rural, industrial and Bedouin communities.

Egypt has abandoned its mild role confined to providing limited care to its poor children, and powerfully turned to the developmental state that opens broader horizons before its citizens, ridding them of the vicious circle of poverty and making them active producers in their societies as opposed to the charity receivers they used to be. As a result, only those who were truly unable to work and deserve support receive assistance from the state institutions, and the support they receive is not a favor or charity anymore, but rather a right.

As the state forcefully entered the production and industry market through its interest in and concentration on giant and mega national projects along with other various fields, mainly relying on intensive-labor production patterns, and bridging the deficit in domestic consumption, encouraging exports and reducing import rates, the Egyptian state confirmed it was leaping at an unprecedented speed toward turning into a Smart Republic and thus witnessed a digital transformation in most sectors (smart cities, smart villages, smart schools and universities, etc.), a transformation in which the state does not abandon its caring role, but actually counts on investment in projects, services, and the people themselves.

How did the Egyptian government face the repercussions of Covid-19?

The Egyptian society, like the rest of the societies in the world, has been affected by the Corona pandemic, socially, economically and healthily. The only difference was the Egyptian reform experience, which had already begun almost three years before the pandemic, and was still ongoing. Whereas the economic reform program that Egypt had started as of 2015 began to bear fruits, it additionally assisted in bearing the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, and gradually restored economic stability.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Egyptian government has allocated an amount of 100 million pounds to mitigate the effects of the Corona crisis. Most of that allocation was concentrated on supporting the tourism, industry and agricultural sectors, reducing the interest rate and allowing for longer grace periods to repay loans. In addition to the government attention to developing more comprehensive and long-term social policies, such as expanding insurance coverage for irregular employment, a strategy was set to protect and support temporary employees through an emergency support fund designated for this purpose. Egypt has also recorded remarkable progress in terms of study continuation in schools and universities during both the first and the second waves of the pandemic thanks to the progress in digital transformation and distance education.

The general framework set by the Egyptian government to deal with the Corona virus crisis included targeting temporary flexible mechanisms and measures capable of coping with the potential situation developments and updates at the economical and social levels throughout the phases of the crisis on the short and medium terms. In addition, the Egyptian government adopted the concept of selection, by assigning the lion share of protection and support to the most vulnerable groups and the most affected economic sectors, as well as working to enhance the principle of transparency and disclosure in facing the crisis through continuous communication with the public, as well as announcing clearly the size and development of support programs for the various concerned institutions, and publicizing what the government has done with regard to taking proactive measures to meet health and social needs, and also supporting the sectors directly affected by the crisis, noting that there are still risks to the economic outlook, especially due to the second wave of the epidemic which has raised uncertainty about the pace of domestic and global recovery.

Perhaps these measures have made Egypt one of the least affected developing countries either socially or economically by the Covid-19. Egypt managed to maintain its economic growth rates and was able to rank second in economic growth after China in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund report, which indicated that the Egyptian economy has become capable of withstanding all types of adversities.

Conclusion:

It hurts to see the world that had reached the moon flipping and falling back down rapidly. It also hurts to see that all gates have been shut before you; however, the gates of heaven are still open. Perhaps our minds lured us when we started exploring the universe and believed we would leave the earth to find an alternative home on Mars or another planet, and maybe the earth became fed up with our corruption and amassed environmental disasters and finally decided to throw us away and bring to life a new creation that treats it with respect. Whatever the justifications, and whether we admit that it is a furious natural disaster or a biological third world war, we have to confess that the pain is the same in all cases. We are all losers here, no one is a winner.

The emerging corona virus crisis has shown that the neoliberal policies pursued for decades with its imposed unfairness against the disadvantaged and the abandoned restrictions in favor of the privileged as well as the privatization of vital public sectors is no longer able to protect us from this damning epidemic. Since those deprived of free health care and social protection are apparently the first and foremost victims of this pandemic, the poor, the irregular workers, the homeless and the marginalized are therefore the most underprivileged. Based on what the recent years have witnessed, there has been a growing awareness as to the need for strong, comprehensive and universal social protection, as reported by Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the Social Protection Floors of the International Labor Organization. Although these initiatives are still shy and timidly developing, they nonetheless reflect an increased awareness and provide effective systems of social services, protecting and immunizing human beings against the vagaries of nature in all parts of the world. Therefore, it is time to take all necessary measures so that the relevant recommendations of the international community can be immediately implemented.

In recognition of the work of the World Social Forum for Health and Social Security together with its keenness to provide everything necessary to support the initiatives, and realizing the importance of all of us working toward adopting alternative public policies which prioritize people and environment, all developmental staff including those well-versed in social policies should cling to the demand for the adoption of alternative social policies to the brutal neoliberal policies. Based on the aforementioned besides my own convictions that we are fighting in a war we are not a party thereto, and that we are merely reaping its devastating harvest, most of the developing countries, including Egypt, are debtor countries or borrowers from giant international economic institutions and countries. In the midst of these circumstances, these countries may not be able to fulfill their debt obligations or interests. We therefore stress the need for the international system to provide a comprehensive health system that offers free health care to all, without exception, regardless of any cause for discrimination, either based on nationality or social class. We also advocate the necessity of linking, in light of these alternative policies, between guaranteeing the right to health care and the provision of all other social protection conditions. In that regard, we are bound to consider all the rights under the umbrella of social protection, such as the right to clean water, free education, proper food, decent housing, respectable job, fair income, and a healthy environment.

Accordingly, we demand the establishment of a world charter for the universal social protection, realizing that social protection is an inherent human right, based on the system of rights and freedoms as well as the broad global solidarity imposed as a result of the advocacy of such system. Hence, it is imperative for governments of the world to expedite the cancellation of debts burdened by poor countries, stop fighting, lift all forms of blockades or sanctions, and peacefully resolve conflicts in a manner that reflects positively on social protection.

Moreover; Governments should also expedite the adoption of the principle of nuclear, chemical and biological disarmament, trying to put an end to armed conflicts, encouraging and enhancing productive work, fundamental research, search for new medicines and vaccines, preservation of biodiversity, space conquest, and setting up human-rights-friendly budgets. These demands will not be achievable without these governments seeking to endorse the principle of social solidarity between the peoples in their constitutions, and the principle of public social utilities protection, especially in terms of health, education, water, electricity, fuels, and Internet services, etc.

This article is an urgent appeal to the international regimes to come together to confront the economic and social aftermath of the Corona virus. My dream is that my voice will reach out to the world governments, administrations, and institutions, sounding an alarm to those rational officials in order for them to issue their last call to save us all from the scourge of this insidious biological warfare.

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