EGYPT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2008 EGYPT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2008 Egypt’s Social Contract: The Role of Civil Society The Egypt Human Development Report 2008 is the major output of the Human Development Project, executed by the Institute of National Planning, Egypt, under the project document EGY/01/006 of technical cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Design, layout , cover and tapistry photographs Joanne Cunningham Illustration credits A special debt of thanks to the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre for use of designs taken from tapestry weavings. Printed by Virgin Graphics Copyright 2008, United Nations Development Programme, and The Institute of National Planning, Egypt. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission or reference to this source. Local: 2007/26074 ISBN: 977-5023-10-6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Director and Lead Author Heba Handoussa Authors Chapter One Heba Handoussa Sahar Tawila Chapter Two Zinat Tobala Hoda El Nemr Ashraf Al-Araby Chapter Three Amany Kandil Chapter Four Fatma Khafagy Amany Kandil Leila El Baradei Chapter Five Samer Soliman Chapter Six Hania Sholkamy Chapter Seven Alia El Mahdi Heba Handoussa Chapter Eight Malak Rouchdy Inas Hegazy Fadia Elwan Chapter Nine Habiba Hassan- Wassef Chapter Ten Emad Adly Mostafa Madbouly Chapter Eleven Maged Osman Randa Fouad Gillian Potter Chapter Twelve Hoda El Nemr Gillian Potter INP Ola El Hakim Hoda El Nemr Zinat Tobala Mahmoud Abdel Contributors Ashraf Al-Araby Azza Elfandary Nivine Kamal Hay Ahmed Soliman Ahmed Abdelbaky Magda Ebrahim Sahar Aboud Editor and Gillian Potter Advisor Readers Osman M. Osman Nahla Zeitoun Abdel Aziz Hegazy Mounir Tabet Adib Nehmeh Suraj Kumar Noha Mikkawy Hoda Rashad Research and Nahla Zeitoun Mary Kraetsch Hala Salib Coordination Arabic Mohamed Ghazal Nadia Abdel Azim Mohamed Sabry Translation Morshedy Special Thanks Sincere thanks are owed to Mustapha Kamel el Sayyid, Ziad Bahaa El Din, Naglaa El Ehwany, and Seheir Habib for their constructive comments and remarks. Acknowledgements are also due to Heba El Laithy for her help on the Poverty Map and to Mohamed Bayoumi for his assistance on environmental issues. v PREFACE n the past, many citizens had perceived large institutions, especially govern- ment, to be distant and unaccountable, and because highly centralized, lacking I the capacity to reach all citizens. This has neared its end as numerous declara- tions by Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, and by the government of Egypt sug- gest that the time is ripe for a new social policy that would match the liberalization of the economic regime. Over the past decade, there has been a growing drive by the government of Egypt to turn this objective into a reality, in line with a national consensus to better engage citizens to help make and shape those public policies that affect them most. Participation at a decentralized level is believed to be a major tool for social trans- formation, whereby citizens become proud and willing to share in national develop- ment efforts by owning, managing and implementing programs that raise their quality of life in every domain. In short, it has been a call for the integration of civil society — as the ‘third’ pillar of the state, alongside government and the private sector, in a new social contract for all. This concurrence runs counter to decades of neglect of the value of the contribution of this large sector in the nation’s growth path. It is argued in this Egypt Human Development for 2008 that greater civic participation — spearheaded by a growing body of civil society organizations — will not only lead to a more engaged citizenry but will also meet the developmental goals of improved public goods in Egypt. It is, after all, the space where people come together to debate, associate and seek to influence broader society. It is clear that civil society, whether in its philanthropic, advocacy, or interest group manifestation has become critical to any sustainable process of development. This is evident in the proliferation of registered CSOs over the past decade. Civil society organizations are deeply embedded in Egypt, grounded in historic philan- thropic practices, frequently exercised through faith-based Wakf or Endowment Funds. Such charity work has exhibited continuity over the years. However, there are now new opportunities for civil society organizations to link up with the newer concepts and practices of development, especially with the programs proposed under a new social contract. This calls for wider initiatives whereby partnerships between multiple government and community agencies, with support from private or international donors, ensure enhanced, replicable and sustainable efforts that dovetail with state plans and resources. A series of 55 integrated programs were proposed as deliverables in the previous Egypt Human Development Report. This report for 2008 builds upon the proposal that a ‘new social contract’ and its deliverables is needed between the state and its citi- zens. This will require measures both legislative and administrative to enable civil society to participate more vigorously in those programs , as partners, in welfare and vii services provision, and as the voice of reform through its capacity to monitor and to render accountable all stakeholders in the national endeavor. In this respect, plans in process to decentralize and devolve to local bodies both fiscal and administrative responsibility are expected to promote a participatory approach. This approach will embed democratic practices in local government and encourage partnerships with other social actors able to bring in expertise and the necessary financial backing required for truly effective services and development programs. Such an ambitious undertaking is backed by political will and by the gradual creation of an ensuing enabling framework of regulations. Given the current impetus for reform, the Egypt Human Development Report 2008 has reviewed the status of Egypt’s civil society and its organizations and proposes ways and means by which this important sector of society, in alliance with other state actors, can contribute substantially to Egypt’s development efforts. It explores poverty mapping, for example, as an effective tool in indicating regional disparities in human development both at the governorate and district level. An understanding of the spatial distributions of poverty can be used in the design of poverty reduction programs and policies that target the neediest regions and communities. It also pro- vides scientific evidence for the prioritization of poverty programs during the budget allocation process and administrative reforms to accelerate decentralization to the local government units, thereby enabling prompt and rapid local alliances with CSOs. EHDR 2008 also demonstrates that a number of Egypt’s CSOs have been engaged — to various degrees — in best practice application of their missions. These cover rel- evant and, indeed, crucial areas of development such as education, health, micro credit facilities for SMEs, culture, the environment, housing and sanitation. Yet, in investigating both the external and internal environments within which CSOs operate, and in turn, to which they contribute, it becomes clear that much reform is still needed to fully achieve best practice conditions. We should all of us – state and civil society – work hand-in-hand to reduce conflictual factors and emphasize harmonious relations in order to overcome any obstacle that hinder the achievement of the ultimate goal of higher levels of human development and better standards of living for all Egyptians. Osman Mohamed Osman Minister for Economic Development viii FOREWORD ince its debut in 1994, the Egypt National Human Development Report (EHDR) has become an indispensable key publication of the UNDP S Egypt Country Office. Being a vital platform for discussing critical national and sub-national human development issues, the report has established itself as a reliable analytical tool that is enriching policy options, positively impacting public discussion and giving inspiration for action on issues of critical importance to the National Human Development Agenda. The tenth in the EHDR series, the 2008 EHDR focuses on the role of civil society organizations in promoting and implementing the well received plan for 55 socio- economic public investment programmes articulated in the 2005 EHDR as a vision for a new social contract and a specific plan of action. This year’s report highlights this vital role of civil society and depicts it as an essential partnership with the public sector and other partners to jointly strive to achieve the goals of the national human development agenda and more specifically the 55 programmes and the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all tar- geted to be achieved by the year 2015. The Report brings to the table specific pro- posals regarding measures to encourage the growth of, and stimulate innovation within, civil society organizations, in addition to improving the legal and administra- tive environment within which they operate. Around the world, governments are recognizing the vital role that civil society plays in the development process and increasingly,