www.meobserver.org 2 Home 28 Feb. 2018 Rights not charity, disability measures after the 30th of June revolution Egypt has sanctioned many UN Human Rights On the other hand, for higher education the law Conventions signing international commitments dictates that at least 10% of government univer- to hold to the standards stated in universal human sity housing should be allocated to students with rights documents, yet little was adopted on legal disability. Furthermore, the government will be and practical applications to offer these rights to committed according to the new law to support people with disability until 2013 that is. the disabled for employment, and all private and In 2013 after the people’s revolution overthrow- government companies with more than 20 em- ing the brotherhood, representatives with disabili- ployees will be compelled to hire at least 5% of ties participated in the 50 committee who drafted their total employees from the disabled pool. the new constitution creating new amendments The law also gives tax incentives for hiring giving emphasised rights to citizens with disabil- over quota. According to the new law work- ity. Article (81) of the new constitution reads: The ers with disability or those who sponsor family State shall guarantee the health, economic, social, members with disability will enjoy 50% tax cuts, cultural, entertainment, sporting and educational one paid hour reduced from their daily work- rights of persons with disabilities and dwarves, load, and there will be social protection benefits strive to provide them with job opportunities, al- according to the social insurance law. locate a percentage of job opportunities to them, In addition, 5% of all government social hous- and adapt public facilities and their surrounding ing will be devoted to people with disability, and environment to their special needs. all new Egyptian buildings will be subjected to The State shall also ensure their exercise of all disability easy access code. political rights and integration with other citizens Moreover, all motor vehicles designed for in compliance with the principles of equality, jus- disabled people will be customs and VAT tax tice and equal opportunities. exempted, and in the event of an arrest of a disa- Not only that but also the parliament election bled person the national council for disability af- law in 2015 designated a minimum quota of par- fairs must be notified to provide legal and medi- liament candidates with disability to ensure fair cal assistance. representation in the parliament. This resulted in The government is not the only party that passing the first Egyptian disability rights law in is taking measures to support the disabled in December 2017 and its approval by President El- Egypt, in November, 2017 the Helm Foundation, Sisi in February 2018. in association with Drosos and Bassita, started The new approved Egyptian disability rights law a campaign aimed to raise awareness about the grants each person with a disability a special id needs of the disabled. card accompanied by a medical file to cover his or The campaign featured a video starring famed her medical expenses even if not originally cov- Egyptian actors Menna Shalaby and Ahmed ered by medical insurance. Malek where the daily struggles of persons with The law also commits the government educa- disabilities in Egypt are portrayed, Egyptian tional regulatory body to take necessary meas- Streets reported. According to Helm (a non-prof- Egypt is in 31st place worldwide on the Sum- The Egyptian government has long been criti- ures to ensure educational integration of students it organisation that aims to promote the full in- mer Games' all-time medal table for Paralympic. cised for the discrepancy between laws and ap- with disability in regular private and government clusion of Persons with Disabilities in all aspects Mervat El Samman, an Egyptian parliament plication. Regarding disability rights the 30th schools if their skills allow it, if their skills didn’t of life in Egypt), at least 14 million Egyptians member, a representative of citizens with dis- of June government in many ways has proven allow them to perform in regular schools, the law suffer from at least one form of disability. abilities said that a number of ministers already the existence of a political will to grant the disa- obliges the regulatory body to allocate specially In Rio 2016 Games Aya Ayman was Egypt's started executive decisions to apply the new dis- bled their rights and the coming days will either designed facilities for their education and requires first and youngest female Paralympic swimmer ability rights law, reported el Youm7. prove or deny their commitment. the government institutions to erase illiteracy for to have ever competed in the Paralympics. In El Samman demanded re-equipping Cairo those who are above educational age. this tournament, Egypt won 12 medals. metro stations to be disabled friendly. Sherif Abdelghaffar Egypt's Empower Ismail witnesses inking of loan deal between Egypt, Japan wins EGP Prime Minister Sherif Is- program. The agreement was mail witnessed last week the also signed by Minister of signing of a $175.7 million Investment and International 143m waste-to- soft loan agreement between Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Cairo and Tokyo to support Japanese Ambassador in Cai- the establishment of Japanese ro Takehiro Kagawa. schools in Egypt. Declared during President energy plants The deal, inked by Educa- Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to tion Minister Tareq Shawqi Japan in 2016, the Egyptian- Empower has won a tender to build two and president of the Japan Japanese educational part- waste-to-energy plants with a total capacity International Cooperation nership program is targeting of 2 megawatts and up to EGP 143 million in Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kita- under the deal via providing investment in El-Salheya El-Gedida city, ac- oka, comes within the frame- support for the human re- cording to CEO Hatem El Gamal told. work of the Egyptian-Japa- sources working in the educa- The leading Biogas and waste management nese educational partnership tion sector. company will begin executing the designs and studies regarding the projects in coordination with German partners before the construction starts in the third quarter of 2018, added El Gamal. The project is expected to commence opera- Egypt to finance Cairo Metro lines with EUR.700 million tion by the end of Q1-19, in which the gener- ated energy from both plants will be sold to Egypt will sign an agreement with the new trains, Arafat said, noting that the North Delta Electricity Distribution Company at 102 piasters per each kilowatt per hour French Development Agency in Cairo, ministry has discussed a proposal on up- (kWh) for about 20 years. European Investment Bank, and the Eu- grading the line with the French Develop- ropean Bank for Reconstruction and De- ment Agency. velopment (EBRD) next May to develop The minister stressed that the French the infrastructure of Cairo Metro Line 1 Development Agency has obtained a EUR with EUR 600 million ($737.7 million) in 8 million grant in favour of the Egyptian credit facilities. transport ministry for Alexandria’s Raml The National Authority for Tunnels Tram technical studies, adding that the (NAT) will also finance the project with grant contract will be signed next month. around EUR 100 million, bringing the He indicated that signing the agree- total funding of the line to EUR 700 mil- ment of financing the Raml tram is set to lion, Egyptian transport minister Hisham take place in September 2018 at a value Arafat added in a statement. of EUR 237 million to be obtained from Metro Line 2 will be upgraded in col- the French Development Agency in Cairo laboration with the EBRD to provide six and European Investment. 65th year Issu 9/2018 - 1edition Publisher and Chairman Consultant of ME Affairs Investigative Editor Address Al-Jomhoriah Yasmine Fouda [email protected] Distribution Authorised by Eiman Rashed Head office Mahmoud Fouda Annual subscription rates in Egypt the Egyptian united organization for Press Special Reports Editor [email protected] 41Sherif St., Cairo, Egypt "An Egyptian Joint Stock Company" Egypt L.E 260 [email protected] Rania Imam Layout & Design Tel:00.202.23926919 Over 50 years covering Middle Editor-in-chief Managing Editor Arab Countries US$90 Al-kawmia Moharram Fouad Fax:00.202.23939732 Distribution Founded in 1958 by Ahmed Fouda [email protected] East and Gulf Economic News H.A.Raouf Amira Elhamy Ahmed Saber Mob: 01222174062 in the world www.meobserver.org 28 Feb. 2018 BCanks & ompanies 3 Egyptian-Saudi Shanghai Electric consortium submits the lowest consortium invests EGP 3bn in 4 hospitals bid for the Hamrawien coal power project An Egyptian-Saudi consortium has launched Mena Health Partners (MHP) to pump around EGP 3 billion into Egypt’s mega coal power project However, on the tariff front, the establishing four hospitals in the North African nation. plans are moving ahead with the MHPS consortium bid the lowest The new company has been founded by an investment Egyptian Electricity Holding Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) consortium of 15 businessmen who are interested in the Company (EEHC) opening the of 4.5 cents/kWh, followed by healthcare sector, in which 75% of them are Egyptians, envelope for bids to build the 6,600 the Shanghai Electric consortium while Saudi investors make up 25%, Co-founder and CEO megawatt (MW) Hamrawien Clean with 5.4 cents/kWh and GE with 7.0 Ayman Badr told Almal News. Coal Power Plant. cents/kWh. The MHP is seeking to inaugurate four hospitals in the The project will be located at The source said Shanghai Arab world's most populous country; namely Katameya Hamrawein on Egypt’s Red Sea coast Electric consortium’s bid Clinic, Katameya Specialty Hospital, October International and would be developed as an submission incorporates a 27 Hospital, and Well Care, Badr added.