by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity supports the poorest citizens to overcome social and economic risks, eyeing cooperation with China in the field of poverty reduction, said Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity Nivine El-Kabbag in a recent interview with Xinhua.
The minister listed examples of her ministry's social protection interventions including conditional cash transfers, education and unemployment assistance, pensions for the elderly and the disabled, job opportunities and microloans.
Kabbag added that she highly values the great efforts made by China in poverty alleviation, looking forward to cooperating with the Chinese side and learn from their experience.
"China was indeed successful in reforming its pension system, expanding health insurance coverage and education, improving the standards of living of the bottom classes and notably optimizing the potentials of human resources in labor markets," she told Xinhua.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected most economic sectors in Egypt including the revenues of tourism and the Suez Canal. As of Tuesday night, Egypt has confirmed 109,654 COVID-19 cases, including 6,394 deaths and 100,540 recoveries.
The Egyptian government, the minister said, provided a package of benefits to ease the situation, starting with provisional assistance to 1.7 million casual workers with a cost of 300 million U.S. dollars.
In collaboration with civil society organizations, the ministry supported 20 million households and other vulnerable groups with food, financial assistance, medication and hygiene kits, furnishing hospitals and isolation locations, at a total cost of about 115 million U.S. dollars.
"Providing mechanisms of social protection is a top priority for the ministry," Kabbag emphasized.
"We distributed disinfectants and medical face masks, held awareness campaigns in all institutions caring for elderly people, children, people with disabilities and others, besides our hosting centers for violated women," she pointed out.
Kabbag explained that the Egyptian Red Crescent affiliated with the ministry played a large role in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
With the arriving of winter, the ministry has prepared itself for the anticipated floods and consequent social issues including homelessness, broken services and damaged properties.
The ministry has 26 emergency centers nationwide with necessary relief services and equipment to relocate individuals and households, in addition to the first aid services provided by 27 branches of the Red Crescent, according to the minister.
The Ministry of Social Solidarity currently allocates 112 million Egyptian pounds (about 7.17 million U.S. dollars) from its budget for emergency spending, and in case a crisis requires more funds the cabinet directly approves additional financial requests.
The ministry implemented the first conditional cash transfer program called Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity), providing financial support to 3.6 million families with 14.3 million members. The annual budget of the program increased from 6.4 billion Egyptian pounds in 2015 to 18.5 billion Egyptian pounds at present, according to the minister.
"The number of beneficiaries increased by over 200 percent over the past few years, and the budget was increased by nearly 300 percent," Kabbag stated.
She added that the ministry introduced some advantages for old people, such as free public transportation fees for those aged 70 or above and a 50-percent fare exemption for those aged from 60 to 70.
Besides, the ministry coordinates with concerned ministries to provide medical insurance and subsidized food supplies to low-income aged people.
The minister hailed the successful implementation of China's targeted poverty alleviation program.
"China is a champion in in poverty alleviation that achieved economic empowerment not only to individuals but to the state as a whole," Kabbag said.
She added that China managed to address the causes of poverty in impressive ways, making well-studied plans and decisions and monitoring their implementation with a high level of awareness.
"It also dealt with poverty in urban areas not only rural ones, which is exactly what we need in Egypt," she said.
"We would surely like to have a partnership with China, and I am sure we will, for it is undoubtedly a successful model to be followed not only by Egypt but many other states," the Egyptian minister told Xinhua. Enditem
