CAIRO: For the past five years, Egyptian Laila Abdel Maksoud and her family have run a charity offering free meals during the holy month of Ramadan, serving more and more people even as soaring inflation has driven up costs for the organization.
Maksoud said they first started out with 500 meals, but this year they’ve surpassed 4,000 as millions of Egyptians struggle to cope with record inflation.
A severe shortage of foreign currency exacerbated by global factors including a drop in Suez Canal revenue has hobbled the economy over the last two years.
Despite investments from Gulf countries and a financial package from the IMF last month, Egyptians and charities still feel the pinch from soaring prices.
“Every year it’s becoming more expensive and with the current conditions, we don’t know where we’re heading, but we intend to continue,” Maksoud said.
Similarly, Ahmed Farouk, administrative director of the charity Ummat Al-Habib Association that provides families stipends and meals, said costs have surged six-fold, sending more people into poverty.
“There’s a category of people who previously didn’t come (to receive meals), now they started coming,” he said. “I can confirm wholeheartedly that Egypt is moving only because of its people’s good intentions.”
Egyptian charities dish out meals during Ramadan, despite soaring costs
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Egyptian charities dish out meals during Ramadan, despite soaring costs
- Despite investments from Gulf countries and a financial package from the IMF last month, Egyptians and charities still feel the pinch from soaring prices
UN chief expresses deep concern over escalating Iran-US tensions
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for diplomatic engagement to resolve differences between the United States and Iran amid a surge in military activities and rhetoric across the Middle East, his spokesperson said on Friday.
“We are very concerned about the heightened rhetoric we’re seeing around the region by the heightened military activities, war games or just military, increased military, naval presence in the region. And we encourage both the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue to engage in diplomacy in order to settle the differences,” said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN secretary-general.
The call for restraint follows a formal letter delivered on Thursday by Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council. Iravani emphasized that Iran is prepared to exercise its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, promising a decisive and proportionate response to any military aggression.
Iravani further warned that in such a scenario, all bases, facilities, and assets belonging to hostile forces in the Middle East would constitute legitimate targets for Iranian defensive measures. The envoy added that the United States would bear full and direct responsibility for any unforeseen and uncontrollable consequences resulting from further provocations.
