The “New Republic” was strongly aware of the problem of informal housing and its dangerous repercussions, deriving from the revolution of June 30, 2013, considering it one of the urgent issues that needs a comprehensive confrontation to limit its spread and address its negative effects on the future of development in all its fields.

This paper addresses the issue of slums in Egypt, the extent of their impact on the national economy, and the role of the state in confronting it, through several axes.

First: the concept of slums

There are multiple definitions of “slums” around the world, but everyone agrees that slum areas are illegal and unplanned areas.

For example, the World Bank defines slums as “informal areas that suffer from some problems such as high population density and insufficient infrastructure and services.”

According to the United Nations, slums are “dilapidated and old areas located within the city or squatter colonies that occupy the outskirts of cities outside the urban plan.”

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics defines slum areas as: “those areas that were established by self-effort on the lands of their owners or on state lands without official licenses, and lack basic services and facilities.”

Second: the development of slums in Egypt and the reasons for their appearance

The population of slums in Egypt is 22 million people living in 88 slums nationwide, and the total area of slums in the Republic is 160.8 thousand acres, representing 38.6% of the urban mass of the cities of the Republic (37.6% unplanned areas, 1% unsafe areas).

-The areas of the informal areas in the governorates of Sohag, Sharqiya, and Beni Suef represent the highest at the level of the governorates of the Republic with percentages of “71.1%, 5%, and 65.3%, respectively.
-The percentage of slums represents about 39% of the total urban mass of the Republic and is spread in 226 cities .
-There are only 8 cities free of slums, distributed as follows: “two cities in Suez governorate, and the same in Sharqiya, and 3 cities in Kafr el Sheikh, and one city in Giza governorate .

-Alexandria governorate occupies the first place in terms of the prevalence of slums, where the area of slums with 1 thousand acres amounted to 12.5% of the total area .

-Cairo governorate comes in second place with an area of 4 thousand acres by 12%, followed by Giza governorate with 15.5 thousand acres and 9.6% of the total area of informal areas .

-The percentage of the area of unsafe informal areas in Cairo and Ismailia governorates is 7% of the total area of unsafe areas at the level of the Republic .

-Unsafe informal areas with the second degree of danger come in first place, with 251 areas .

– The total area of unplanned informal areas reached 156.3 thousand acres representing 97.2% of the total total area.

-The area of unplanned informal areas in the three governorates (Alexandria – Cairo – Giza) is the highest at the governorate level, with a percentage of (12.8%، 11.8%، 9.8%) on the order of the total area of the unplanned regions of the Republic.

– The total number of unsafe informal areas in the governorates reached 351, occupying about 4.5 thousand acres, representing 2.8% of the total area of informal areas. As of 2014, Cairo governorate ranked first in the number of unsafe areas in Egypt with about 56 areas representing 15.4% of the total of those areas in all of Egypt.

– The total number of random markets in the Republic amounted to 1099 markets in 2015 containing 305.6.

The reasons for the emergence of slums in Egypt :-

– Rising prices for apartments

– Increasing childbearing and not keeping up with the pace of construction of new housing units for accelerated population growth .

-Leniency in the treatment of violators of State territory by officials and government agencies .
– Poor urban planning and lack of provision of basic services in some areas.

Third: The danger of slums

1-Social problems

– Low educational level and high illiteracy rate(29%), as well as low rates of middle and university education.
-43% in unsafe slums, and 37% in unplanned slums, suffer from deprivation of education, which has led to children dropping out of education and increasing the rate of child labor and their enrollment in inappropriate jobs.

– spread of “early marriage”(34%).

– spread of poverty and the rise in crime as a result of high unemployment rates.

-Slums in Cairo Governorate lack basic facilities such as electricity, water, and sanitation. All of these violations have led to an increase in crime rates.

2-Health problems

– Lack of availability of hospitals and medical centers.
– The spread of many diseases as a result of the lack of provision of clean water and sanitation.

3-Economic problems

– The agricultural area is shrinking due to the random urban encroachment on it.
– Increasing pressure on utility networks, infrastructure, roads and transportation.
– High unemployment rates in various forms.
– Building on agricultural land and converting it to residential land, which negatively affects the national income for agriculture.

Fourth: Slums and their economic challenges

Slum areas constitute a major obstacle to the economies of countries because they lack any proper urban planning, which causes massive chaos that impedes transportation and constitutes a huge burden on the city’s infrastructure, giving priority to slum dwellers for housing and shelter and not proximity to work.

The lack of adequate health and sanitation services, the spread of environmental pollution, high crime and corruption rates make slums a fertile environment for diseases, epidemics and social problems and increase the suffering of their residents, which contributes to increasing the burden on the state due to therapeutic and social costs.

Fifth: The state’s achievements in developing slums

The state has provided many successful models in developing slums. It has developed and created safe housing integrated with services and equipped for citizens who were living in inhumane areas that are not suitable for life.

Some of the state’s projects to eliminate slums are as follows:

State efforts to eliminate unsafe areas:
About 2 million citizens benefit from it, with a total of 246 thousand housing units, at a cost of 63 billion pounds, with 33 unsafe areas of the first class, 269 unsafe areas of the second class, 34 unsafe areas of the third class, and 21 unsafe areas of the fourth class. These areas include 54 districts in Cairo.

The state’s efforts in the development of unplanned areas:

The cost of upgrading the efficiency of infrastructure in unplanned areas reaches 318 billion pounds.56 unplanned areas have been developed with an area of 4,616 feddans, serving about 460 thousand families, while 79 areas are being developed with an area of 6,941 feddans, serving about 690 thousand families.

-Social Housing Project “Ahalena 1” in El-Salam 1 District, Cairo

The project was established on an area of 11 feddans and consists of 25 residential buildings, each building has 12 floors and each floor contains 4 residential units with an area of 90 meters with an electric elevator for each building. 32 housing units of them have been allocated for people with special needs. Ramps and wide doors were made specially for them. An electrical network and 1121 electricity meters for residential and administrative units, a water supply network, a 1,100 cubic meter tank to serve the project, two sewerage and rain networks were established. There is also a fire network for all residential, administrative and service buildings. 4 water wells to irrigate green areas were established as well. A shopping mall and 84 stores of various sizes were built so as to provide job opportunities for the residents of the region. A primary school with a total of 28 classrooms was fully finished and equipped. Moreover, the project includes an integrated medical center for health care services, a mosque that takes up to 500 persons and 18 workshops to provide job opportunities for women and men in this project.

Ahalena 2 in El-Salam 1 District, Cairo

The project cost 700 million pounds, and included 34 buildings, each building containing 12 floors, and each floor containing 4 units, for a total of 1,632 residential units. The project also includes 4 commercial malls, 176 commercial stores with an area of 45 square meters each, a basic education school with 33 classrooms, and a youth center on an area of 7,300 square meters.

2-Rawdat Al Sayeda, launched in 2016, was a very dangerous slum called Tal Al Aqareb (Arabic for the Hill of the Scorpions) encompassing huts and houses vulnerable to collapse.

The first phase consists of 16 five-storey buildings having a total of 816 residential units. The alternative-housing project is also earthquake-resistant, given it lies 11 meters above the surface of the rest of the area. The cost of the project is LE330 million, and it also houses 198 commercial units

The second phase is being implemented in the Fatimid architectural style. This project is located on an area of about 6 feddans, and it consists of 9 residential buildings, each building consisting of a ground floor and 5 floors.

Sixth: The vision of international institutions for the Egyptian state’s efforts to eliminate informal housing

The Human Development Report issued by the United Nations in 2021 pointed to the interest of the Egyptian leadership in the file of slum development as one of its most important priorities, in contrast to what was stated in its report in 2010, which indicated that slum areas lack the minimum standards of organization and security.
In 2023, the World Food Program confirmed that there is integration in sustainable development policies in Egypt, and the Decent Life initiative has proven the Egyptian integrated approach to development, as it included the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improving access to basic and health services to improve the quality of life in the poorest villages in marginalized rural areas

Egypt advanced in global indicators after the extent of its achievement in developing slums, according to the World Bank’s classification of Egypt in the “slum population as a proportion of urban population” index. It also jumped 13 places in the social risks index for the year 2021, including the real growth rate of the gross domestic product per capita, and the participation of… Labor force, trust in government, public social spending, political stability, and others.

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In light of the trends of food systems towards globalization and their lack of important foodstuffs that preserve human health, and amid the spread of poverty rates as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the preceding outbreak of the Corona pandemic, which also coincided with unprecedented disturbances in climatic conditions, the world is moving away from achieving the goal of sustainable development. The aim is to eliminate all forms of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by the year 2030, unless efforts are intensified and bolder action is taken by the international community.

the Strategic Forum for Public Policies and Development Studies “Deraya” issues a detailed report on forms of malnutrition, its causes and negative effects, as well as indicators of global malnutrition and international efforts in this regard , Based on the seriousness of the problem of malnutrition and its enormous human and economic cost. The report also sheds light on indicators of the nutritional status of children in Egypt and the Egyptian state’s efforts to eradicate malnutrition diseases.

First: forms of malnutrition

The World Health Organization defines malnutrition as a term referring to a deficiency, excess or imbalance in a person’s energy and/or nutrient intake. The different forms of malnutrition are as follows:

1- Undernutrition: There are four general sub-forms of undernutrition, namely: wasting, stunting, underweight, and lack of vitamins and minerals. Undernutrition leads to rapid vulnerability to disease and exposure to death, especially for children.

2- Malnutrition associated with micronutrient deficiencies: where the body lacks micronutrients represented in vitamins and minerals, which enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances necessary for proper growth.

3- Overweight and obesity: where a person’s weight is heavy in relation to his height, and abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat can harm health. Overweight and obesity result from an imbalance between energy intake (too much) and energy expenditure (too little).

Second: the causes of malnutrition and its negative effects

The phenomenon of malnutrition arises due to several factors, most notably the high rates of poverty, food insecurity, lack of primary health care programs for both mothers and infants, lack of potable water, and inadequate sanitation systems. Wars and conflicts exacerbate the malnutrition crisis, as the Russian-Ukrainian war disrupted supply and supply chains, followed by food shortages and an increase in the prices of basic commodities, including wheat, edible oils, and fuel. This is in addition to the repercussions of global warming, which is expected to reduce food production by 5.5% by 2050, and cause disruption to supply chains, especially in low-income countries.

Corona leads to high rates of malnutrition

The Corona pandemic exacerbated the levels of malnutrition in the world, as the number of malnourished people increased to approximately 768 million in 2020, which represents 10% of the world’s population. And the Director-General of the World Health Organization had stated in 2020 that an additional 10,000 children may die every month due to malnutrition resulting from the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, indicating his expectations that the number of malnourished children as a result of the Corona pandemic will increase by up to 14%.

In this context, the German Center for Nutrition stated that malnutrition is due to unhealthy nutrition (processed foods and ready-made products), in addition to the incidence of certain diseases such as chronic bowel diseases that prevent the proper absorption of nutrients, as well as excessive smoking, coffee and sweets. He pointed out that sadness and stress may cause malnutrition, as it leads to loss of appetite and causes problems in the stomach and intestines.

Here it should be noted that malnutrition is one of the main risk factors for many diseases, which are known as “diet-related noncommunicable diseases”, which include cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke, and are usually associated with blood pressure), some cancers, and diabetes. diabetes.

Malnutrition leads to anemia, which is caused by iron deficiency and leads to general weakness and exhaustion, as well as protein deficiency diseases, which are diseases specific to infants from the age of 6:12 months, and they occur because children do not get proteins that complement breast milk. This leads to skin infections and an enlarged liver at times, and a lack of calcium and vitamin D leads to rickets in children.

Malnutrition causes 11 million deaths annually

According to a scientific study conducted by an international team of researchers, which was published in the journal “The Lancet”, malnutrition causes about 11 million deaths worldwide annually due to heart disease, stroke and cancer. The researchers also explained that unhealthy nutrition includes, for example, eating too much salt, drinks that contain a lot of sugar, and not enough whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

According to the study, the number of deaths due to a lack of eating fruits amounted to about 2 million cases, and due to an increase in salt, about 3 million cases, while those caused by a lack of eating brown bread (whole grains) amounted to about 3 million deaths, and a lack of eating nuts and seeds resulted in 2 million deaths.

The World Health Organization reports that approximately 45% of deaths of children under the age of five are related to under nutrition. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. She also noted the increasing incidence of overweight and obesity among children in these same countries.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “FAO” confirms that economic and social transformations have contributed to the formation of dangerous diets that have led to a significant increase in weight, obesity and stunting, stressing that children who suffer from undernourishment are more vulnerable than others to infectious diseases, and this also affects their growth. Mental and cognitive, which hinders their academic achievement and their ability to obtain appropriate jobs and earn income in the future. Malnutrition also leads to great risks for the future of mothers and women, as it leads to an endless cycle of malnutrition throughout life.

Third: Global indicators of malnutrition diseases

The 2022 edition of the “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” report, which was jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program and the World Health Organization, presented the latest developments in the field of malnutrition crisis. The UNICEF Nutrition Strategy for the period 2020-2030, titled “Nutrition for Every Child,” clarified the most prominent global indicators of malnutrition diseases.. The following are numbers and statistics that reflect the size of the problem and its steady increase:

1-   The prevalence of undernourishment increased in 2021 to reach 9.8%, after it was 9.3% in 2020 and 8% in 2019.

2-   The total number of undernourished people in 2021 reached about 768 million. More than half of the 425 million live in Asia and more than a third of the 278 million live in Africa, while Latin America and the Caribbean includes about 8%, with a number of up to 57 million. As the following figure shows:

Figure No. (1) The prevalence of undernourishment and the number of undernourished people globally:

Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.

3- The updated projections for the number of undernourished people indicate that about 670 million people are still undernourished in 2030 – an increase of 78 million compared to a scenario in which the Corona pandemic did not occur.

4- 22% of children under five years of age suffered from stunting, by 149.2 million in 2020, and in general, stunted children reside in low-income countries or lower-middle-income countries.

5- 6.7% of children under five years of age suffered from wasting, at a rate of 45.4 million in 2020, and low- and middle-income countries bear the greatest burden of wasting among children under the age of five, with a total rate of 93% of children suffering from wasting in the world. Children in rural environments and poorer families whose mothers had no formal education were more likely to be stunted and wasted.

6- 5.7% of children under the age of five suffered from overweight, at 38.9 million worldwide, in 2020.

7- Obesity among adults is on the rise, after its rates increased worldwide from 11.8% in 2012 to 13.1% in 2016 – the latest year for which data are available. Obese adults are more likely to live in upper-middle-income or high-income countries..The prevalence of obesity among women is higher than among men. Obese women are more likely to live in urban areas and in wealthier households.

8- Low birth weight was recorded in 14.6% of newborns. . However, data gaps pose a challenge to the global monitoring of this indicator, given that nearly one in three newborns in the world were not weighed at birth, as confirmed by relevant studies.

9- About 3.1 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2020, an increase of 112 million people compared to 2019, which reflects the effects of inflation in food consumption prices as a result of the economic effects resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken to contain it.

10- An estimated 45 million children under the age of five suffered from wasting, one of the most deadly forms of malnutrition, which increases people’s risk of dying by up to 12 times s development “, 149 million children under 5 years of age also suffered from stunted growth and development due to chronic nutrient deficiencies in nutrients while 39 million children were overweight.

11- Progress has been made in the field of exclusive breastfeeding, as about 44% of infants under the age of six months were exclusively breastfed in 2020, but this percentage is still less than the 50% targeted by 2030.

Fourth: International efforts to solve the problem of malnutrition

1-   The launch of the United Nations Trust Fund “Unit Life”: The fund was launched in June 2021 on the sidelines of the “Generational Equality Forum”, in cooperation between the United Nations Women’s Fund, the United Nations Fund for Capital Developments, the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the French government, and aims to combat chronic malnutrition In regions of the world through innovative partnerships to finance nutritious food systems, smart climate-sensitive agriculture, and women’s empowerment and education programs.

  2- Establishment of the United Nations Contract For Action on Nutrition: In April 2016, the United Nations General Assembly announced the establishment of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, to be jointly implemented by the Food Organization and the World Health Organization, with the aim of addressing all forms of malnutrition.

3-   The Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Convention was adopted in November 1989 and ratified by UNICEF member states. The Convention guarantees the right of the child to obtain adequate food, to enjoy the highest achievable standard of health and to take the necessary measures to reduce infant and child mortality.

Fifth: Indicators of the nutritional status of children in Egypt

In August 2022, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics issued the results of the Egyptian Family Health Survey 2021, with the aim of providing indicators that clarify the demographic and health status of Egyptians, and contributing to the development of plans and programs that help improve the health situation in Egypt, as well as providing a database that supports the implementation of the principles and objectives of the national project for the development of the Egyptian family and achieving sustainable development plans.

With regard to the nutritional status of children in Egypt, the health survey indicated that there is a clear improvement in indicators of the nutritional status of  children between 2014 and 2021, according to the following statistics:

-The percentage of children with short stature “stunted” decreased from 21% in 2014 to 13% in 2021.

-The percentage of underweight children decreased from 8% in 2014 to 3% in 2021.

-The percentage of underweight children decreased from 6% in 2014 to 4% in 2021.

Figure No. (2) shows the development of the nutritional status of young children from 2014 to 2021

Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

The results of the survey indicate that there are some differences according to the different geographical regions, as the percentage of short stature in relation to age increases in Al-Waha Al-Qibli countryside to reach 16%, and decreases in urban Lower Egypt to less than 10%.

Figure No. (3) shows the percentage of overweight children by place of residence

Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

According to this figure, the prevalence of anemia is evident among children in urban areas in Upper Egypt, while it is prevalent among children in rural areas in Upper Egypt.

In a statistical scientific study conducted by the researcher Abd al-Rahman Abu Shouk – a researcher at Harvard Medical School – and implemented by nearly a thousand researchers, and its results were published in the “Nature Medicine” journal, this paper presented numbers and statistics on the double burden of obesity and wasting in low- and middle-income countries, resulting from poor Nutrition in children at the age of five years ago, and dealt in a scientific manner in detail with the diseases of malnutrition in the governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the results of which were as follows:

1-Damietta governorate topped the governorates in which wasting is prevalent, with a rate of 13.1% of children under the age of five.

2- The governorate of Beni Suef came in the last place with 3.4% of the total number of children under the age of five suffering from wasting.

3- Sharkia governorate ranked first in the percentage of overweight children.

Sixth: The efforts of the Egyptian state to eradicate malnutrition diseases

The new republic placed the health of the Egyptian citizen at the top of its priorities and made great efforts to confront malnutrition diseases and took many measures to reduce their repercussions in light of its pursuit of sustainable development, which came as follows:

1- Launching the National Food and Nutrition Strategy 2022-2030: The strategy aims to ensure that all citizens – by 2030 – have access to healthy, safe and sustainable food systems with an integrated, high-quality and comprehensive health care system.

2-  The national campaign to treat malnutrition in schools: The campaign aims at early detection of obesity and anemia in children and attention to the general health of school children at a total cost of about 165 million pounds, according to which about 15 million male and female students in the age group of 6 have already been examined. 12 years in more than 22 thousand schools.

3-  The presidential initiative to detect genetic diseases of newborns: The initiative was launched on July 13, 2021 with the aim of early detection of genetic diseases of newborns and providing free treatment for infected children, in addition to dispensing milk and foodstuffs through centers and clinics distributed in all governorates of the Republic.

4-  School feeding project: The Ministry of Education, in cooperation with a number of ministries and concerned authorities and the World Food Organization “FAO”, launched the school feeding project with the aim of providing daily meals that contain the most important vitamins and minerals that students need at the level of different educational stages.

5-   The national program for “universal salt iodization”: National laws oblige the owners of salt factories to provide it with iodine, according to the national program for “universal salt iodization” according to the 1996 quality standards.

6-   Climate Change and Nutrition Initiative (I-CAN): Launched by the Minister of Health during the activities of the COP27 climate conference, with the aim of supporting the implementation of measures to deal with climate change and mitigate its effects, support systems for transition to sustainable healthy food systems, and reduce the exacerbation of malnutrition cases. The initiative comes in partnership with the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a number of partner organizations and stakeholders.

Seventh: Recommendations

Despite the sincere Egyptian efforts to eradicate malnutrition diseases, especially among children, more efforts can be made, most notably the following:

1- Obligating food industry companies to mark the product through the food card, which serves as an “identity card” for the product, provided that it includes the ingredients of the product, its nutritional value and calories.

2- Including  in the school curricula the basics of choosing the appropriate food and integrate nutritional and health concepts in the curricula.

3-Conducting more studies and supporting quantitative and qualitative research to understand the social practices and habits that shape the nutritional status of children and women in particular.

4- Raising the capabilities of health pioneers in the areas of community awareness and providing nutritional advice, especially in rural and Upper Egypt areas.

5- Monitoring data and information that enable tracking of progress towards improving children’s nutrition.

6- Reducing the levels of salt and fat in school meals so that they are at the lowest levels possible.

7- Encouraging absolute breastfeeding, especially in the first 6 months of the child’s life, and helping working mothers to continue breastfeeding.

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The issue of population grow was and still is the biggest challenge facing the Egyptian state and the problem that eliminates the fruits of any achievements of sustainable development plans or the state’s efforts to improve the lives of citizens, especially in light of the new republic that aims to change the reality of Egyptians for the better.

The current population growth is placing enormous strain on the State’s general budget.

Despite the sincere efforts made by the state to solve and address the issue of overpopulation since the thirties of the last century, it is still efforts unable to confront this massive population increase and lack the development of comprehensive policies and strict plans that are firmly applied and lead to a reduction in the rate of population increase in proportion to the state’s resources and efforts Achieving sustainable development plans.

Indications about the population problem in Egypt:

Total population

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics indicates that the population of Egypt reached on September 12, 2022, about 103,908 thousand and 590 person. It also announced that the population of Egypt will reach approximately 120 million in 2030, making it equal to the population of 15 European countries with weak or medium population density. Studies indicate that by 2050, the population of Egypt is expected to reach 153.4 million, and then continue to rise, reaching 198.7 million by the end of the twenty-first century, or more than double the population of Egypt in 2015.

Population Density

The total population density in Egypt has developed and increased from 71.5 person / km 2 in 2006 to 101.8 person / km 2 in 2021, and then to 103.3 person / km 2 in 2022.

Population Growth Rate

The annual growth rate of the Egyptian population increased from 2.05% during the period from 1996 to 2006 to 2.56% during the period from 2006 to 2017 according to the 2017 census.

Economic Growth Rate vs. Population Growth:

Many Research and Studies have confirmed that economic growth should be three times the rate of population growth in order to be able to create the jobs needed for the new generation. This means that the population growth rate in Egypt, which reached 2.56% during the period from 2006-2017, as we mentioned previously, needs an economic growth rate exceeding 7.5% annually so that the citizen can feel the fruits of development.

Number of families

According to population estimates on January 1 2022, the number of Egyptian families reached 25.5 million, 55.3% of the total number of families resided in the rural (14.1 million families), 44.7% of the total number of families resided in urban areas (11.4 million families).

The causes of population growth

The reasons for population growth can be identified as follows:

1- Natural increase (increased number of births and decreased number of deaths)

The number of natural increase in Egypt reached about 1.571 million person in 2020, compared to 1.734 million person in 2019, a decrease of 9.4%.

2- Increased life expectancy

The high survival rates contributed to the exacerbation of the population problem, as the survival expectancy reached 75.9 for females and 73.4 for males in 2020, compared to 73.3 for females and 70.5 for males in 2016.

3- Demographics

The population structure in Egypt is characterized by high fertility rates.

4- Early marriage:

Contributes to the exacerbation of the population problem. Early marriage rates are usually associated with a high birth rate, as most married women in Egypt give birth to the first child during the first year and half of marriage. Early marriage will also increase the fertility period for women.

5- Social legacies

Ideas and beliefs still dominate in rural and upper Egypt – emphasizing the importance of the family whose number of children is increasing as they are “the pride and bond” and looking at small families as weak families, and these beliefs also relate to the fact that large families can employ their children at an early age, which represents these families current and future economic power.

Repercussions of the population problem

1-Education: The population grow is a stumbling block to the reform of the educational system, as the quality of the educational service depends mainly on the number of students.

2-Health: if the population continues to grow in its current state, this will lead to many negative effects on the level of quality of health services provided. This increase will lead to a higher demand for health services, higher treatment costs, and the provision of a larger number of medical personnel such as doctors, nursing staff, hospitals and the number of beds. Medical devices and equipment, all of which are data that put pressure on the state’s general budget, which is directed to the health sector in particular.

3-Unemployment: population growth constitutes a great pressure on the available job opportunities and the labor market. Over the past decades, the Egyptian state has suffered from an increase in unemployment rates, as the unemployment rate reached 12.8% in 2015, and decreased to 9.9% in 2018, and then reached 7.4% in 2021 (5.6% for males, 16% for females), meaning that unemployment among females is nearly three times higher than that of males.

The Egyptian state’s efforts to confront the population growth

The Egyptian political leadership is aware of the seriousness of the population issue, which has become an increasing challenge to Egypt’s development plans and its dangerous repercussions, Which made this issue a priority in the reform and construction process carried out by the Egyptian state since 2014 to achieve comprehensive and balanced development, as many measures, initiatives and programs have been taken to confront this problem:

1- The Egyptian Constitution (Article 41): The Egyptian Constitution obligated the state to develop a national program that would strike a balance between population growth and available resources.

2- Launching the National Population Strategy (215-2030): This strategy aims to improve the quality of citizen’s life through: Reducing the rates of population increase in order to achieve the missing balance between economic and population growth rates.

This strategy seeks to achieve four goals:

– Improving the quality of life of the Egyptian citizen, by reducing the rates of population growth, in order to achieve the missing balance between economic growth rates and population growth rates.

– Restore Egypt’s regional leadership by upgrading demographics.

– Redistribution of the population through the creation of new urban communities and the elimination of slums.

– Achieving social justice and social peace, including linking the development map to the poverty map in Egypt in order to reach a distribution of projects that serve low-income people.

3- Launching the National Strategy for the Development of the Egyptian Family in February 2022 which aims to improve the quality of life of the citizen and the family in general by controlling the rapid growth rates and improving the characteristics of the population (level of education, health, poverty rate, job opportunities)

4- “2 Enough” project: The Ministry of Social Solidarity launched the “2 Enough” project with the aim of achieving comprehensive social development, especially in poor and needy areas.

5-  Expansion of social protection programs, the latest of which was the addition of one million families to the conditional cash support program “Takaful and Karama” launched in 2015, as well as the disbursement of exceptional aid to 9 million families within 6 months.

6- Increasing the agricultural area: The state sought to increase the cultivated area through the implementation of projects aimed at expanding land reclamation, the most prominent of which were: the 1.5 million acres project, and the New Delta project.

7- Elimination of slums

8- Launching the “Decent Life” initiative in 2019 to improve the standard of life for the neediest societal groups at the state level. The initiative is based on implementing a set of service and development activities that will ensure a “dignified life” for this category and improve their living conditions.

9- Launching the “Housing for All Egyptians” initiative to provide housing units for middle-income citizens. The initiative aims to establish 3 million housing units to accommodate the growing demand for housing in light of the steady population growth.

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