The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the European Union (EU) highlighted the achievements of the EU's support for Egypt's National Population Strategy with the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Health and Population, marking the fourth year of the project in an event on 12 December. The event showcased the achievements of the project that has been implemented by national partners over the past four years, including government entities and civil society organisations, and highlighted its link with the recently launched National Project for the Development of the Egyptian Family. In March 2019, the Ministry of International Cooperation officially launched the EU support for Egypt's National Population Strategy (2018-2023) in cooperation with UNFPA, the EU, and the Ministry of Health and Population. With the support of an EU-grant of €27m, the project aims to increase the use of voluntary, rights-based family planning by improving the supply of family planning services and commodities, increasing demand for family planning, and enhancing governance for implementation of the National Population Strategy. In his speech, Minister of Youths and Sports Sohby said: "We aim, through the memorandum of understanding with the Health Ministry to provide family planning services within youths and sports entities and clubs and to spread awareness through educational activities that include theatres within youth and student camps." Furthermore, in a recorded statement, Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said that "the population issue is imposing itself on the state and society as one of the top priorities in the reform and construction process." "We have exerted efforts and put this issue as a top priority and we are achieving continuous improvement that is clearly reflected in numbers," he added. For her part UNFPA Representative in Egypt Frederika Meijer said: "Ensuring access to family planning services and commodities, as well as access to information, is at the heart of the UNFPA's work with the support of the EU." "This is in line with the Egyptian government's vision as the National Project for the Development of the Egyptian Family comes to complement and reinforce the work done by UNFPA and the EU over the past four years." Additionally, Head of the EU Delegation to Egypt Sophie Vanhaeverbeke stressed that achieving sustainable demographic growth is instrumental in balancing population with the available natural resources, meeting the aspirations of the public for a better future. Through this project the EU is standing by Egypt to implement its National Population Strategy in line with the country's Sustainable Development Strategy and Egypt's 2030 Vision. In order to achieve the project's outcomes, the UNFPA partnered with the health and sports ministries, alogn with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Local Development, as well as faith-based organisations, including Al-Azhar University's International Islamic Centre for Population Studies and Research (IICPSR) and the Bishopric of Public, Ecumenical, and Social Services (BLESS), along with civil society organisations such as Etijah, Gozour, and the Egyptian Family Planning Association (EFPA).
