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Employing the Youth in health initiatives in Partnership with the World Bank and EU

12/02/2015
Managing Director Ms. Soha Soliman and Minister of Health and population Dr. Adel Adawy inaugurated the Seminar co-organized by the SFD Central Sector for Human and Community Development in conjunction with the Communication Sector on the Project: "Youth Employment in Mother and Child Health Care Initiatives" in the presence of Head of Social Programs, the Middle East and North Africa, the World Bank Mr. Gustavo Demarco and Head of Section, Human and Social Development, the EU Mr. Sébastian Trenner.
The project is one the sub-components of the Emergency Employment Investment Project (EEIP) funded by the EU at around 70 million Euros and implemented under the National Labor Intensive program funded by the World Bank at USD 200 million.
SFD Managing Director said the seminar aimed at shedding light on successful cooperation between SFD, the World Bank, the EU, engaged ministries and NGOs. She added such project, financed at 240 million EGP by the EU, has contributed to accelerating socio-economic development through raising awareness of primary health care services in the poorest governorates and creating short-term job opportunities for women working as health promoters. Ms. Soliman emphasized the project implementation cost insofar reached 96 million EGP and generated about 2.3 million man/days. She also mentioned that SFD will proceed with its mandate to act as a social safety net to create job opportunities for the youth and support the most vulnerable families in order to combat the triangle of poverty, illiteracy and diseases.
In his inaugural speech, Mr. Demarco stated that labor-intensive projects have a special type as they transfer cash for disadvantaged people to create short-term employment. They also act as catalyzers to give people better opportunities besides cash to be in better positions and likewise encourage women participation. He stressed that inclusion and equal opportunities are the core of labor-intensive projects. The World Bank, he added, through these kinds of projects, targets lower income people in lagging regions stressing that these projects in turn provide income protection and build as well the income-generation capacity of the poor people to be well prepared for jobs.
While Mr. Trenner said that growth is a necessary condition in poverty alleviation and within this context jobs become more effective when they target labor-intensive sectors. This project in particular represents the community service component that has a wide impact on the scale of health promoters. He emphasized the need to improve community services and for this reason, the EU builds partnerships with SFD and the World Bank. Mr. Trenner in addition stressed the EU’s commitment to stepping up socio-economic development in Egypt indicating that this project gives a good example of the EU’s intervention.
Whereas Minister of Health and population said the project is a by-product of cooperation among SFD, the Ministry, the EU and the World Bank. It has contributed to developing health indicators in the targeted governorates. Within this context, he pointed out that the Ministry of Health has provided training to numerous health promoters to provide better health services for housewives.
Meanwhile, General Manager of Human and Community Development Central Sector Engineer Medhat Masoud gave a presentation on the National Labor-Intensive Program and achievements of the Youth Employment in Mother and Child Health Care Initiative.
During the seminar, a documentary film: "A Glimpse in a Health Promoter’s Day" was presented showing the daily activities of the health promoters.
At the close of the seminar, SFD Managing Director and Minister of Health awarded certificates to distinguished health promoters and representatives of the Ministry that participated in the project implementation.