On the first-ever Arab Sustainability Day: Minister of Planning & Economic Development Says Egypt is keen on exchanging expertise with Arab partners

 Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said participated recently in the events of the first-ever Arab Sustainability Day that aims at shedding light on sustainability in the Arab world, accomplishments of Arab countries in achieving UN goals to accomplish the welfare of their peoples and ways of creating an Arab atmosphere that stimulates sustainability.

  El-Said gave remarks while addressing a ceremony marking Arab Sustainability Day through which she stressed her hope for cooperation and exchange of experience in the field of sustainable development with all Arab countries.

El-Said tackled the Egyptian State’s efforts in the past seven years to achieve integrated sustainable development goals, pointing out the crucial role of the ministry of planning and its efforts to achieve integrated sustainable development; most importantly launching Egypt’s Vision 2030 in February 2016.

She also noted the many updates that took place to the vision within the international changes as a reflection of the dynamic nature of the development planning process. This was done to ensure compliance with the national agenda, the UN SDGs, and the 2063 agenda for Africa.

 El-Said pointed out that the updated version of the vision consists of four governing principles representing strategic pillars. These principles include the human being as the center of development. This includes achieving justice and accessibility, enhancing flexibility and adaptability, and promoting sustainability.

 El-Said said that financing for development is one of the most pressing challenges facing the state in achieving sustainable development projects and programs. Also, she pointed out that the Egyptian state is working on mobilizing all the available resources, raising expenditure efficiency, and managing general investment to consolidate development efforts.

 Moreover, El-Said explained that in 2018 the planning ministry had formulated a financing equation to ensure an equitable and objective distribution of general investment among different governorates.

A distribution based on specific standards that take into consideration the characteristics, and social and economic conditions of each governorate.

This distribution helps realize integrated and balanced regional development goals. This financing equation enhances the decentralization concept at the state level. It ensures transparency in the allocation of general investments, empowering governorates by defining their investment each year, thereby improving their ability to execute strategic planning for development projects, according to El-Said.

She also pointed out the ministry’s efforts to diversify the sources of funding for development projects and plans. This was done by expanding the financing base through partnerships with the private sector, regional and international sovereign funds, and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE).

El-Said also referred to the presidential initiative (Decent Life) which is the largest development initiative in the history of Egypt and the world in terms of the size of funding and the number of beneficiaries, targeting all rural Egyptian villages (About 4,500 villages with more than half of Egypt's population – 58 million citizens).

Meanwhile, El-Said shed light on the cooperation between the Ministry of Planning and UNFPA, launching 27 reports to localize the sustainable development goals at the local level for each governorate for the year 2020.

These reports aim to provide an overview and an objective assessment of the current status of implementing sustainable development goals at the governorate level.

The Ministry of Planning seeks to update these reports annually to monitor and follow up on translating the sustainable development goals into achievements on the ground, taking into account the priorities of the development units, and ensuring their effective contribution to implementing the sustainable development goals and achieving the 2030 Agenda’s goals locally.

El-Said explained that Egypt is among only 10 countries in the world that submit VNR national review reports to follow up on the UN SDGs (2016, 2018, and 2021) in line with the direction to localize sustainable development goals at the local level.

And about the transformation of green projects, El-Said said that the Egyptian government aims to increase the percentage of green projects in the investment plan to 50% by 2024/2025, referring to the launch of the National Initiative for Smart Green Project that represents a pioneering Egyptian development initiative aimed at stimulating creative ideas and practical implementation of innovative environmental solutions in all governorates of Egypt.

About Egypt's hosting of the Cop 27 Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, El-Said stressed that the conference provided a platform for Arab, African, and developing countries in general to express their requirements concerning essential development issues, such as climate financing, adaptation, and the reduction of environmental pollution and mitigation of its negative repercussions.

El-Said drew attention to Egypt's cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT), by announcing during the conference that Egypt would host a regional technical center under the name "Cairo Center for Sustainable Development Goals."

The center aims to build capacities and prepare the methodologies and mechanisms necessary to localize sustainable development goals. It will strengthen partnerships and support governments, civil society, academic institutions, international and regional organizations, development partners, and the private sector.

El-Said also pointed out the launch of the "A decent life for Africa resilient to climate change" initiative on the sidelines of the COP 27 conference.

The initiative aims to enhance the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. It will support the efforts of African countries to implement their national commitments in this field. This is done by integrating the principles and mechanisms of climate action into sustainable urban development in Africa.

During the event, Dr. Hala El-Said was honored and received the Arab League shield of honor.