Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi revealed on Wednesday that the government spent more than EGP 6trn in the past seven years to combat poverty in the country.
He added that poverty, backwardness, and ignorance are a triangle that is difficult to get out of easily, and that in 2012, Egypt was on the verge of complete collapse.
Al-Sisi’s remarks came during a panel discussion titled ‘Development Experiences in the Face of Poverty’, as part of the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum.
The President directed his speech to Egyptian youths, saying: “I salute them, because the World Youth Forum and the Decent Life Initiative were one of the ideas of Egypt’s youths.”
He said that the Decent Life project is one of a thousand steps the state intends to take, noting that there is continuous communication between the government and the people.
The president also pointed out that the economic reform programme that the government adopted in 2016 is what allowed Egypt to endure the extraordinary circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, stressing the importance of working to develop people’s living conditions to face any challenges.
Al-Sisi stressed that fighting poverty was his primary goal when he was elected in 2014.
He indicated that before the pandemic, the world was celebrating saving one billion people from poverty, asserting that poverty destroys the present, the future, and the hope of the people.
“We launched an initiative and incentives worth EGP 100 billion at the beginning of the pandemic to strengthen the already existing companies in order to preserve employment,” the president said.
“We have helped millions of citizens in all governorates of Egypt and provided all services that meet their needs,” added Aya Omar, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Decent Life Initiative.
She emphasised that reviving the values of community participation and investment in the human element is the primary goal of the Decent Life Initiative, affirming that the economic empowerment of the targeted areas is one of the most important goals of the initiative.
