Within the partnership between the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Egypt, a joint project agreement was signed today with the presence of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Egypt Head of Cooperation. The project ‘Supporting the Ministry of Local Development in Integrated Local Economic Development and Decentralization with Special Emphasis on Upper Egypt’ builds on previous collaboration with MoLD since 2007, taking into account the lessons-learned from the previous project.

Through the signed agreement of the project, UNDP will support MoLD’s efforts to create a modernized and decentralized local administration system at the central and local levels in selected governorates; a system that adheres to good governance, whose function is to support and promote integrated local development through upholding excellence in local public services delivery, and promoting local economic and social development. The project is expected to the span life of 5 years.

It is worth noting that the 2014 Constitution sets the gradual transition timeframe to decentralization.  The project is aligned with this constitutional obligation and the current strategic orientation of the Ministry reflected in its 2030 plan incorporated in the government programme and the strategic plan for 2030 with respect to the Ministry’s and local administration reform agenda including increasing local resource utilization and supporting local job creation.

The project also ties coherently with the United Nations Partnership for Development Framework (UNPDF) and UNDP’s Egypt’s Country Programme 2018 – 2022, and also contributes to two of the key outcomes of the UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018 – 2021; namely Outcome 1: Advance poverty eradication in all its forms and dimensions; and Outcome 2: Accelerate structural transformations for sustainable development, in addition to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

General Sharawy, the Minister of Local Development mentioned that “MoLD is looking forward to the fruitful cooperation with UNDP and to the joint efforts of institutional development and capacity enhancement of the Ministry and selected governorates to further fulfill their mandate as per the government program in targeting development gaps in the most needy regions specially Upper Egypt, and supporting local economic development that aim to create decent and sustainable jobs through utilization of local resources and comparative advantages of each governorate, in addition to implementing local administration reform and decentralization in the fields of local planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation as well as good governance. We will support the courses of action to be taken within the project implementation and will closely monitor the attainment of tangible results, with the ultimate aim of satisfying the needs of Egyptian people and improving their quality of life wherever they live in the different regions of Egypt.”

Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Egypt mentioned that “UNDP is delighted to once again collaborate with MoLD and build on its joint rich history of fruitful cooperation, through the new project that is rather ―both― timely and significant given its massive contribution to the 2030 Agenda, specifically SDGs 16 and 10. The project will also be key in developing important policy tools such as a new Decentralization National Strategy, and a National Local Economic Development Strategy, which will all help in laying out the decentralization architecture for Egypt with the larger goal of attaining sustainable development for all Egyptians.”

For more information, please contact:

Fatma Elzahraa Yassin

Communications Analyst

UNDP

Fatma.yassin@undp.org