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Egypt's 2021 Voluntary National Review

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EGYPT’S 2021 VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEW 1 Copyright @ 2021 The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development 9 St. Salah Salem Street, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt www.mped.gov.eg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission. This VNR was made possible with the help of the United Nations Development Programme. 2 Temple of Isis, Island of Philae, Aswan 3 photo: © svstrelkov CONTENTS 01 Page 08 05 Page 23 Opening Statement Progress on Goals & Targets SDG 1: No Poverty SDG 2: Zero Hunger SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being 02 Page 10 SDG 4: Quality Education SDG 5: Gender Equality SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation Policy Enabling Environment SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 2.1 Governing framework: Updated Egypt’s Vision 2030 SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities 2.2 Localization of Sustainable Development SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities 2.3 Evidence Based Policy SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action SDG 14: Life Below Water SDG 15: Life on Land SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG 17: Partnerships For the Goals 03 Page 16 Review Methodology 06 Page 79 A Decade of Development Ahead: Page 19 04 Challenges & Way Forward Towards a More Resilient Economy: Egypt’s Economic Reform Page 85 4.1 Results of the First Phase of the Reform Program 4.2 Second Phase: Structural Reforms Acknowledgements & Annexes 4 ACRONYMS AfCFTA African Continental Free Trade Area AFD French Development Agency AU African Union CAPMAS Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics CBE Central Bank of Egypt CDWS Chamber of Diving and Watersports CEDARE Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe CO2 Carbon Dioxide COP Conference of Parties DAESN Development Association for Empowering Special Needs EBI Egyptian Banking Institute EEZs Exclusive Economic Zone EGP Egyptian Pound EIU Economist Intelligence Unit FDI Foreign Direct Investment FGM Female Genital Mutilation FY Fiscal Year GCDL Global Change Data Lab GCI Global Competitiveness Index GDP Gross Domestic Product GERD Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam GHG Greenhouse Gas GII Gender Inequality Index GIZ German Agency for Development GoE Government of Egypt IFC International Finance Corporation IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IMF International Monetary Fund IT/DT Information technology and Digital transformation IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature LMICs Lower Middle Income Countries MCIT Ministry of Communications and Information Technology MENA Middle East and North Africa MMBTU Metric Million British Thermal Unit MOERE Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy MOETE Ministry of Education & Technical Education MOF Ministry of Finance MOHP Ministry of Health and Population MOIC Ministry of International Cooperation 5 MOSIT Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade MOSS Ministry of Social Solidarity MOWRI Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation MPED Ministry of Planning and Economic Development MSMEDA Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency MSMEs Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises MW Mega Watt M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NC4Egypt Egyptian Fourth National Communication to the UNFCCC NCEAS National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis NCSD National Center for Spatial Data Infrastructure NCW National Council for Women NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations NIGSD National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development NMR Neonatal Mortality Rate NREA New and Renewable Energy Authority NSRP National Structural Reforms Program NWRP National Water Resources Plan ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OHI Ocean Health Index PM2.5 Particulate Matter less than 2.5 micrometres PPP Purchasing Power Parity PWD Persons with Disabilities SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SDS Sustainable Development Stategy: Egypt Vision 2030 SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises U5MR Under-5 Mortality Rate UN Habitat United Nations Human Settlement Programme UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USD United States Dollar VAT Value Added Tax WEF World Economic Forum WFP World Food Programme WGI Worldwide Governance Indicators WHO World Health Organization 6 Hathor temple, Dendera, Qena 7 photo: © user15449331 Opening 1. Statement After the successful launch of Egypt’s Voluntary National of development, sectoral structural reform, reliance on Review (VNR) 2018 and the praise that Egypt received evidence-based policy, and effective role of the state have during the High Level Political Forum from all the been key elements in weathering the crisis and ensuring stakeholders and the international community, H.E. the a fast recovery. Despite the challenges imposed by the President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi directed to continue focusing pandemic, opportunities also emerged: to focus more on on monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and human capital (health and education), to implement bold for Egypt to present its third VNR in 2021. The team in the sectoral reform, to be more globally competitive, and to Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) be better integrated in global supply chains. responsible for the preparation of the VNR was worried Given this plenitude of significant changes, it was a difficult due to the relatively short period of time between 2018 task to compile this report and an even harder one to make and 2021 which could give rise to difficulties in reporting it concise. Indeed, there are many issues worth mentioning on significant developments materializing during this or elaborating on that did not get their fair portion in this period. Time, however, had another tale to tell, as these report for the sake of brevity. Notwithstanding, the series three years ended up witnessing drastic changes on both of workshops carried out with development stakeholders a global and a domestic level. including government entities, the private sector, the civil On the global level, the outbreak of the COVID-19 society, and international development partners were pandemic in 2019 has been phenomenal, and its span of instrumental in shaping the report to reflect the enormous impact geographically and sectorally was unprecedented. efforts by all parties toward the effective implementation The pandemic served to remind us that the world is of the 2030 Agenda. Continuing the tradition set in Egypt’s interconnected and has more commonalities than VNR 2018, this report does not only objectively document differences. In times of crisis, especially global ones, achievements but also depicts challenges in Egypt’s path international collaboration is a necessity not a luxury. toward sustainable and inclusive development concluding Overcoming this crisis was proven to be a function of the with a brief on the way forward to horizon 2030. level of collaboration among all countries and with the international community. The pandemic taught us in a practical manner that sustainable development should be the ultimate objective and that trading off one dimension at the expense of another could jeopardize development and put people and the planet at risk. On the domestic level, COVID-19 has been a game changer without a doubt. While it is true that the pandemic has impeded Egypt’s fast-track developmental path, it has also proven that Egypt is on the right trajectory. National priorities such as universal heath insurance, localization 8 The Nile as seen from Cairo 9 photo: © ukrolenochka Policy Enabling 2. Environment 2.1 Governing Framework: Updated • The National Strategy for Medium, Small and Micro Egypt’s Vision 2030 Enterprises and Entrepreneurship – by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), • The Sustainable Development Strategy for Tourism – by Out of the government’s commitment to ensure a quality the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. life for the Egyptian people, Egypt launched its first-ever Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030 (SDS) Believing that strategies are living documents that ought to in February 2016, believing that sustainable development is adapt to changes in national and international circumstances, the guarantee for growth, development, and prosperity for Egypt embarked on a process of updating the SDS in 2018. The future generations. The SDS is aligned with the 17 SDGs, as driving forces behind this update process are (1) ensuring a well as the African Agenda 2063, and acts as the governing better and more rigorous alignment of the national goals with framework for all development programs and projects the SDGs, as well as (2) emphasizing complementarity of the that will be implemented until 2030. It was also formulated three pillars of sustainable development across sectors. (3) following a participatory approach involving all stakeholders The Economic Reform Program initiated by the Government including the government, the private sector, the civil society, of Egypt (GoE) in 2016 was also an important factor for the and academia. update process, to ensure reflecting the changes resulting from these reforms in the SDS. Furthermore, (4) the update The launch of the strategy was followed
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