European Union and
Egypt sign two new strategic
Financing Agreements
By: Mohamed
Adel
Cairo
– Within the European Union's (EU) cooperation framework in Egypt, Ambassador
James Moran, Head of the EU Delegation to Egypt, will be signing two new
strategic Financing Agreements of cooperation between the EU and Egypt:
"Expanding Access to Education and Protection of at Risk Children"
and the "Kafr El Sheikh Wastewater Expansion Programme".
The Signing
Ceremony will take place at the Ministry of International Cooperation in the
presence of Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Mostafa
Madbouli, Minister of Housing, and Dr. El-Helaly El-Sherbeeny, Minister of
Education, on Thursday morning 10th of December 2015.
The
"Expanding Access to Education and Protection of at Risk Children"
project aims to increase access to primary quality community-based education to
children in the age group 6 to 14 and will contribute to improve the learning
outcomes of the most vulnerable and socially excluded. The EU funded project
will help set up 1,200 community schools in disadvantaged Egyptian governorates
with the lowest enrolment rates. These schools will target an estimated 30,000
out-of-school and most vulnerable children in the age group 6 to 14. The
project will further equip 200 public schools for the inclusion of 6,000
children with disabilities.
All children attending these 200 schools – a total
of about 100,000 will directly benefit from the improved quality of teaching
and school environment under this project.
In
the area of child protection, the project will strengthen the "Child
Protection Committees" or "CPC", which represent the backbone of
Egypt's child protection mechanism. CPC will be strengthened, among others,
through the establishment of direct links with Government and non-government
service providers; pilot child protection services financed by the EU will
allow the expansion of the concept of "model services", in line with
international best practices in this field.
The
total budget of this project amounts to EUR 36.15 million, with an EU financing
of EUR 30 million. The programme will be implemented by the UNICEF, in
coordination with the Ministry of Education and the National Council for
Childhood and Motherhood, as well as an important group of national and local
partners.
As
for the second agreement, the "Kafr El Sheikh Wastewater Expansion
Programme" has been designed to improve the quality of irrigation water in
the governorate. This will contribute to increasing health standards for local
residents and the environmental quality of the Nile, Lake Burullus, and the
Mediterranean Sea at large. The total cost of this strategic project is
estimated at EUR 164 million and the total EU contribution amounts to EUR 32
million in grants. The remaining amount is covered by loans provided by the EIB
and EBRD.
The
project supports the construction of new wastewater treatment plants and first
time full wastewater collection networks in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and
will ensure their proper operation once they are in place. Ambassador Moran
said "the project seeks to improve the quality of life of hundreds of
thousands Egyptians and is a remarkable example of how local and international
partners can join forces and resources". He noted that, in total, an
impressive 500,000 inhabitants of the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate are estimated
to directly benefit from the wastewater treatment plants and collection
networks that will be provided by this project.
The
project is expected to create 37,000 jobs during its planning and construction
phase and 1,400 permanent jobs for the operation of the new infrastructure once
established. The Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) representing
the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development is the local partner
of this project, whose direct beneficiary is the Kafr El Sheikh Water Supply
and Sanitation Company (KSWSSC).
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