Egypt State Information Service

mainstays in Egypt. It is considered the main tool for achieving developmental balance among governorates on the one hand, and between rural and urban areas on the other. Besides, it plays an important role in activating local administration investments and increasing their contributions in promising regions.

Local development is the basis of an integrated development process carried out by Egypt. It is the effective tool in modernizing and developing the governorates' basic services as well as spreading industrial crafts which in turn, helps create job opportunities for youth. The policy of activating decentralization in local administration represents the State's prominent attitude currently.

As a result of applying the principle of administrative and financial decentralization in local development and averting dualism, the unified plan has been implemented with its comprehensive meaning starting from 2005/06. The approbations of the three branches of local development (governorates general offices, the urgent plan and Building and Development Villages Institution) have been distributed and collected in the light of priorities and urgent needs in governorates starting on the level of villages and reaching to the level of governorates.

In order to improve the basic services in villages and cities on the public level as well as to enhance services on both environmental and civilizational levels. The urgent plan programme 2000-2001 began where the total implemented investments in the programme since its beginning until 2005 reached about L.E 4.708 billion. These investments aimed at developing electricity, paving roads, potable water and sanitary drainage projects and improving the local environment.

The State adopted a new strategy to deal with the constant problems of overpopulation and the continuous erosion of the agricultural lands. So, the State moved east and west of the Nile on an area of several kilometers to establish about 400 new village on an urbanely, civilizational and environmental basis that suit the expansion givens on both sides of the valley.

This is considered a national project that will be implemented during the coming twenty years to encompass about 4 to 5 million people. This is on condition that the state will undertake the basic utilities and urban planning of the villages with providing services to encourage the settlement operations.

During 2005/06, a number of 21 villages from the villages surrounded by desert were determined in seven governorates as a first stage as well as starting to prepare for the second stage. It includes developing the villages surrounded by desert in all governorates, in addition to the reclamation project where the data of 280 villages was prepared initially.

Information Structure for Local Development

An information structure in vital for local development project that aims to provide the data and information needed to achieve the development objectives and implement its different programmes through the existence of connected information. In this framework, the comprehensive national development information base was modernized in a way that allows an integrated information map to all villages, cities and centres of governorates.

The Information Centres Project allows job opportunities for about 32,000 youth in about 4900 areas in the governorates' villages and cities with total finance from Ministry of Finance reached L.E 60 million annually. Those youth work on modernizing local development database in all its sectors. In 2004, they finished counting about 2.5 million families and entering their data on computers to benefit from it in the future planning.

One of the project's aims is to build an electronic portal for the Local Development Ministry on the Internet with both Arabic and English languages through which, an internal connection between the Ministry and the different organizations locally and internationally is established.

Developing and flourishing the industrial zones is one of the important aims of the local development. In the light of this, the year 2005/06 witnessed completing the infrastructure of 64 industrial zones, of which 17 listed in the unified plan rather than the other industrial zones supervised by other authorities (26 industrial Zone).

Activating and Upgrading cooperative societies is a main trend supported by the state in the field of local development. These societies aim at supporting small projects through providing production and marketing needs in all villages, cities of governorates. The number of productive cooperatives reached 475 base society in all governorates and 15 cooperative and general society where their volume of activity reached about LE 1.3 billion.

The State's youth employment policy to benefit from their power and the elimination of the unemployment problem is one of the most important orientation in this stage. In the light of this, the year 2005/06 witnessed activating youth employment systems affiliated to locals as they contribute to provide about 42,000 job opportunities in different governorates. In addition to providing about 9400, job opportunities in local development fund projects.

This project started in 107 villages and cities with total loans LE 107 million. The State supported this project with a cost reached LE 10 million which is difference of loans interest rate listed in local development.

The value of offered loans till 2004 reached to about LE 162.2 million to a number of 51.400 small projects for youth and women in the villages of governorates. These projects provide about 86.500 job opportunities.

Developing and rebuilding the Egyptian village became on top of development priorities which the state gives great importance. This is due to what the rural society represents of great population and economic weight.

Shorouq is considered a national programme for integrated rural development in Egypt. This programme began in 1994 as an effective mean for developing the Egyptian village. This is done through activating popular participation within the integrated development in the Egyptian rural area. In this programme, the forms of participation vary either through donating lands, materials or personal work rather than participating by thought or opinion in planning and follow up.

The project's total implemented investments during the last decade reached about LE 2 billion, in addition to LE 240 million investments for rural development during 2005/06 contribute in implementing 100,000 projects. This is done starting from providing potable water, sanitary drainage as well as implementing paved roads network that links main villages to hamlets and to centres of production and marketing so as to realize comprehensive development in more than 5,000 villages and hamlets.

In addition, women, children, youth, and culture sectors in rural areas gain great importance of the state. The number of students in rural area became more than 35% of the total students listed in high school education.

It aims at re-planning 4500 Egyptian villages and setting a new urban area through preparing an integrated plan to develop the Egyptian villages till 2020.

Egypt was chosen among five states on the international level, of which 16 states, to introduce its successful models for facing squat areas during holding the UN General Assembly in June 6, 2001. Since 1992, Egypt faced the squat areas issue with all its urban, social and secure dimensions through a long-term strategy. This strategy aimed at curbing expansion of squat areas in different governorates.

This is done through upgrading about 1221 squat areas spread in 24 governorates besides Luxor. The implemented investments for upgrading and developing the squat areas reached in 2005/06 L.E 192559 thousand. These investments are distributed on electricity, paving roads and bridges activities as well as supporting potable water and sanitary drainage services. Besides, the operations of planning, organization and putting an integrated system for operating solid and liquid wastes along with paying attention to the general cleaning and upgrading the environment through increasing the greenery in these areas.

In the light of the new vision to deal with the squat areas issue, the State adopted a strategy to upgrade these areas under the title of “The National Project to Eliminate Squat areas in 2020”. This project aims at putting a unified vision and an integrated programme of which all the State's authorities and the granted authorities comply to guarantee the disappearance of more squat areas in Egypt.