CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Saeed has said a study is underway to issue a Family Insurance Fund for Egyptian families using birth control, in cooperation with the Financial Regulatory Authority, as part of a national project of family development.
The goal of this project is to control population growth, as a way to improve the quality of life of Egyptians, the minister said, adding it would include the economic empowerment of women aged 18 to 45 by providing job opportunities and encouraging them to achieve financial independence
The minister said that criteria for benefiting from the insurance scheme will include periodic family examinations every six months and breast cancer tests, in addition to the obligation to wait a specified period between having children, and only having a certain number of children per family.
The first stage of the scheme will take place over a period of three years, she said.
During the first phase, 2 million women will be trained as part of the National Initiative for Women’s Empowerment. Smaller projects are also planned for about 1 million women.
Al-Saeed said there will be coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education to formulate programs for young people to raise awareness of family planning regulations. Television programs on the issue of family planning will be part of this plan to raise national awareness.
In addition, an online platform, the Egyptian Family System, will automate the services of the Family Insurance Fund with links to units of health and family development. The project will also include providing family planning methods free of charge to all, said the minister.
She indicated that the project also aims at raising the efficiency of Al-Takamol hospitals by creating family-planning units, providing vaccinations and primary care services.
Clinics to monitor women’s health, nurseries for the children of working women and provision of necessary care and support needed for Egyptian women will be part of this program, with 1,500 female doctors trained in family planning methods, in addition to increasing the participation of NGOs that provide family planning services.
Twelve million home visits, 30,000 seminars and 500 activities targeting 6 million women will also form part of the program.
Legislative intervention is being planned to develop a regulatory framework governing the policies taken to control population growth. It includes the criminalization of child marriage, and expanding the scope of punishment to include children’s guardians. Child labor and the failure to register births will also be tackled with punitive measures.
Egypt to implement raft of family planning measures and services
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Egypt to implement raft of family planning measures and services
Iran war chokes aid corridors, obstructing global relief efforts
- “People in dire need of assistance will have to wait longer for food,” said Bauer
- Tents, tarpaulins and lamps destined for Gaza and the West Bank have become stuck in the supply chain, the IOM said
GENEVA: Key humanitarian air, sea and land routes are being constricted by disruption from the war in the Middle East, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises, 10 aid officials have told Reuters.
The US–Israeli war on Iran entered its seventh day on Friday, convulsing global markets and disrupting supply chains with airspace closures and the halt of shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Aid to Gaza and Sudan is grinding to a halt and costs are soaring for help to the hundreds of millions suffering hunger crises around the world.
“People in dire need of assistance will have to wait longer for food,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security at the World Food Programme.
Already, tents, tarpaulins and lamps destined for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank have become stuck in the supply chain, the International Organization for Migration said.
DUBAI AID HUB HOBBLED BY AIR AND SEA RESTRICTIONS
Aid groups say higher operational costs are straining budgets already facing massive donor cuts. The IOM said shipping firms were demanding emergency surcharges of approximately $3,000 per container.
Humanitarian groups stocking goods for rapid regional deployment at warehouses in Dubai’s Humanitarian Hub face challenges moving supplies onto transit routes.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies cannot move trauma kits to help the Iranian Red Crescent with search and rescue from its Dubai hub, where they sit in a estimated 1 million Swiss franc ($1.28 million) pre-positioned emergency stockpile, said Cecile Terraz, a director at the IFRC.
The group cannot move stock through Jebel Ali port — the region’s largest container terminal, which was set on fire by the debris of an intercepted missile — from where cargo normally moves onto planes or into the Strait of Hormuz.
The World Health Organization’s Dubai hub operations are also frozen, regional director Hanan Balkhy said, obstructing 50 emergency requests from 25 countries and hampering operations such as polio vaccination.
Ripple effects farther afield are also likely.
Famine-struck Sudan is particularly exposed due to additional restrictions since February 28 on the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, the UNHCR said.
“We are particularly concerned about Africa,” said a spokeswoman, adding that some cargoes were being sent around the Cape of Good Hope. The route takes up to three weeks longer.
Costs for fuel, transportation and insurance are also rising, and Terraz said the IFRC may have to cut deliveries to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Emma Maspero, senior manager in Copenhagen of the supply division of the UN children’s body UNICEF, said she hoped flights carrying perishable humanitarian goods such as vaccines could be prioritized amid the airspace restrictions.
