Cabinet book documents 28 presidential initiatives in 7 years

26 / 12 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The recently issued book by the cabinet – entitled “vision and achievement .. Egypt moves ahead”- documented 28 presidential initiatives issued during the past seven years.

The book commended these initiatives which marked a watershed stage in the Egyptian society in view of the political leadership’s keenness to achieve qualitative change, build the Egyptian people at the health, social and educational levels in addition to entrenching the concept of social justice.

The political leadership sought to adopt an integrated protection policy to alleviate the burdens the citizens are shouldering, support all social strata, improve the quality of life and invest in human capital to achieve sustainable development in its comprehensive concept.

The book documented the presidential initiative Decent Life (or Haya Karima) which was launched in January 2019 with an aim to improve the quality of life of 58 million Egyptians in 4599 villages. The total cost of this purely Egyptian overture stood at EGP 700 billion.

The Decent Life initiative and the Upper Egypt Development Program were listed on the United Nations SDGs Good Practice.

The book also covered the “100 Million Health” initiative for detecting Hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases, which was launched between October 2018 and April 2019. Under the initiative, 50 million citizens and 10.4 million students nationwide were examined at a cost of EGP 3.8 billion.

The book noted that the World Health Organization has praised the initiative which showed Egypt’s pioneering role in combating hepatitis C at a time when the African continent is considered a hotbed of this disease.

The book also covered the Egyptian initiative to “treat 1 million African people from Hepatitis C’’ which was launched in March 2019 and focused on South Sudan, Chad and Eritrea.

The book also highlighted an initiative to support women’s health that was launched in July 2019 for early detection of breast tumors, non-communicable diseases, and women’s reproductive health. About 20.4 million women were examined under this initiative. In addition, up-to-date medical protocols were provided to over 30 million women nationwide at a total cost of about EGP 602.7 million in June 2021.

The book also referred to the presidential overture on early detection of anemia, obesity, and stunting diseases among school students. The initiative was spearheaded in February 2019 at a total cost of EGP 463 million. About 24.9 million children were examined under this overture.

The book also tackled an initiative for early detection and treatment of hearing loss and impairment in newborns. The initiative was launched in September 2019 at a cost of EGP 111.8 million. Under the initiative, 2.3 million newborns were examined.

The book also reviewed the presidential initiative of Maternal and Fetal Health that was launched from March 2020 to June 2021 at a total cost of EGP 16 million. About 1.1 million women were examined under this initiative.

The book also highlighted an initiative targeting the early detection of kidney diseases which was spearheaded in June 2020. About 25 million citizens were tested under this initiative in addition to offering medicine for free for patients.

Also, the book shed light on the Noor Hayat initiative that was launched in January 2019 to combat visual impairment and blindness via early diagnosis and treatment. About 1.2 million people were examined under this initiative for which EGP 1 billion was allocated.

The book also covered the president’s initiative which was launched in July 2018 to put an end to waiting lists of patients in critical conditions at a total cost of EGP 6.2 billion. About 994,4 patients underwent needed operations out of total 1.1 million registered cases.

The book also highlighted the presidential initiative to monitor home -isolation of COVID-19 cases that was launched in January 2021. About 267,000 periodical visits were organized for self-isolated coronavirus patients.

The book also covered the ‘Vehicle Replacement Presidential Initiative” which aims at converting vehicles to operate by natural gas. The initiative – spearheaded in January 2021 – is meant to improve people’s lifestyle and transportation means in addition to localizing the auto-feeding industry. The initiative aims to encourage using natural gas.

The book also tackled the “Dokan Al Farha” initiative which was launched in April 2019. The initiative aimed at providing new clothes and needs of orphan or disabled prides. About 600,000 pieces of clothes were distributed among nearly 120,000 beneficiaries.

The book also documented the “Prisons Without Debtors” initiative which was given the go ahead in 2015 with an aim to pay off debts of people imprisoned over failing to pay overdue money in order to set them free. The initiative managed to pay off EGP 42 million debts of 6,400 prisoners.

The book also touched on “the Nostos: Reviving Roots” presidential initiative that was spearheaded in November 2017 with an aim to enhance cooperation among Egypt, Greece and Cyprus in various domains and encouraging tourism among the three countries. The four editions of the initiative were launched in 2018 and 2019. Alexandria received the first cruise ship from Cyprus with 500 tourists in 2019 within the framework of the initiative.

The book also highlighted a presidential initiative for incentivizing local products entitled “Mayghlash Alik” which was launched in July 2020 with an aim to boosting local production, creating jobs and operating production lines at full capacity. About EGP 13 billion was allocated for supporting the initiative.

The book also documented the presidential initiative entitled “Barr Aman” or “Safe Shore” which was launched in May 2021 with an aim to support and protect fishermen in tandem with the Tahya Misr Fund (or Long Live Egypt Fund) and the General Authority for Fish Resources Development. The Tahya Misr Fund earmarked EGP 50 million to buttress 42,000 fishermen nationwide.

The book also shed light on the presidential initiative of “Life Saving Boats” which was launched in 2019 with an aim to put an end to illegal immigration among Egyptian youths and open new vistas for youths to engage in training and become qualified to join the labor market.

The book also brought to limelight the presidential initiative of “Go Green” that was launched in January 2020 with an aim of encouraging people to change their attitudes to protect the environment and natural resources for the future generation.

The book also referred to the presidential initiative “Your Bike..Your Health” which was given the go ahead in July 2020 with an aim to promote health and fitness of Egyptians and encourage them to change their daily transportation lifestyle.

The book also referred to the “Gaza Reconstruction” initiative, which was launched in May 2021 to support the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by preparing three emergency relief convoys through contributions and in-kind donations made by Egyptian companies working in various industrial and commercial fields.

The book also reviewed a presidential initiative for Egyptian handicraftsmen which was triggered in June 2019. The initiative was meant to protect the heritage and traditional crafts of Egypt. About 730 handicraftsmen from 13 governorates benefited from the initiative’s training programs. An exhibition was opened to display products of handicraftsmen from 26 governorates until June 2021.

The book also referred to another initiative launched in 2021 to establish a database of makers of handmade carpets and kilims to facilitate their access to an EGP 20 million social protection mechanism. About 1000 families were economically empowered under the initiative which benefited more than 3000 people.

The book also tackled “Speak Arabic” (or Etkalem Arabi) initiative that was launched in November 2020 with an aim to entrench the Egyptian national identity among Egyptian expats. The initiative is also meant to link Egyptian expats to their homeland, teach them the Arabic language and post them on the Egyptian heritage, traditions and values. Under the initiative, Etkalem Arabi application was launched in tandem with Nahdet Misr Publishing Group to be the first e-platform for teaching the Arabic language for Egyptians living abroad.

The book also covered the African App Launchpad (AAL) initiative which was spearheaded in November 2018 with an aim to hone skills of Egyptian and African youths to develop games and digital applications using up-to-date technology. The initiative is also meant to incentivize the establishment of emerging Egyptian and African companies in this domain. The initiative organized training sessions for 9,163 youths. About 75 companies from 22 Africa states got a boon from the initiative.

The book also referred to the Next Technology Leaders initiative which was spearheaded in 2016 to establish a digital platform for offering training opportunities in various fields of modern technology. About 13,000 trainees attended the training programs which offer accredited certificates from international universities.

The book also reviewed the Egypt Makes Electronics initiative which was launched in 2015 with an aim to localize electronics industry. About 5000 trainees attended training sessions in the fields of designing and manufacturing electronics. Within this context, the first Egypt-made cell phone was introduced in the local market.

The book also referred to the presidential initiative for merging and empowering handicapped people which was launched in 2016 with an aim to benefit from communications and IT in securing health and educational services for disabled persons in addition to creating jobs for them.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi signed the first edition of the cabinet’s book which documents the achievements realized in various parts of Egypt, including development projects, over the past seven years.