European Union and
World Food Programme Enhance Children's Access to Education and Fight Child
Labour In Egypt
By : Mohamed Adel
WFP
PARTNERS WITH MINISTRY OF MANPOWER TO IMPLEMENT EU-FUNDED PROJECT TO FIGHT
CHILD LABOUR
CAIRO
– Within the European Union's cooperation framework in Egypt, the United
Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower, one of the WFP’s three government
counterparts implementing the European Union (EU) funded project “Enhancing
Access of Children to Education and Fighting Child Labour.”
Through
the MoU, the Ministry of Manpower will be the focal point for developing and
maintaining the project’s Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS) at the ministry
level, as well as at the governorate level. The monitoring system will track
the project’s beneficiaries and will support the implementation of the national
child protection mechanism included in Child Law No.126/2008.
“Through financing this programme, the
EU is contributing to the ongoing efforts to tackle some of the most critical
issues affecting Egypt’s poorest children: undernutrition, access to quality
primary education, and stopping child labour,” said Ambassador James Moran,
Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt. “We are proud to be part of
helping 100,000 children, particularly young girls in primary schools, to
pursue their education and maintain their rights."
The
€60-million project is targeting 16 of the most vulnerable governorates in
Egypt with the aim of ending child labour through enhancing access to
education, especially for girls. WFP had previously signed a Memoranda of
Understanding with the Ministry of Education in January 2015, and with the
Ministry of Social Solidarity in March 2015, regarding the implementation of
this four-year project.
Through
this project, WFP will provide 100,000
children in community schools with a daily in-school snack (date bars fortified
with vitamins and minerals) as well as monthly take-home food rations (10 kg of
rice and 1 litre of oil) for their families through its school feeding programme.
Up to 400,000 family members will benefit from the take-home rations, the value
of which compensates for the wage a child would earn if sent to work. Both
in-school snacks and take-home rations act as incentives to encourage families
to send their children – especially girls – to school and keep them there.
“WFP works in close coordination with
the Government of Egypt. It is through partnerships like these that we are able
to implement such projects which are an important step towards the country's
economic and social development,” said Lubna Alaman, WFP Representative and
Country Director. “This EU-funded project is the largest project WFP is
currently implementing in Egypt, and we are grateful for the support we are
receiving from the government which has enabled us to achieve key milestones in
this EU funded project.”
WFP
has been working in Egypt since 1968 providing school feeding in the most
vulnerable areas in Egypt.
WFP
is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide,
delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to
improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million
people in around 80 countries.
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