Egypt
In Egypt, the gap between rich and poor is growing and many families can’t get the education and healthcare they need because of privatisation. We’re improving education for 4,300 children here, and protecting 7,000 children from violence and exploitation.
Poverty is increasing in Egypt, and in the poorest areas young children are more likely to die. There are also higher rates of illiteracy and limited access to safe water and sanitation. Rising food prices are hitting families hard and more and more children are dropping out of school to find work to help their families get by.
Social tensions and regional insecurity make life harder still and the political situation within the country has remained tense since the Gaza conflict in early 2009.
Save the Children in Egypt
We’ve worked in Egypt since 1998 and we’re now focusing on protecting children from harm — like violence in schools and early marriage — and helping those without parental care, working children, street children, and children living in institutions. We’re also making sure children with disabilities, and those from poor families or minority religious groups, can get a decent education.
Over the past year, more than 36,000 children benefited directly from our work, and many more benefited indirectly through our work that led to improvements in government policy and legislation. Nearly 95% of the recommendations we made have been accepted. Female genital mutilation is now illegal, the legal age for females to marry gone from 16 to 18, and children born to unmarried mothers now have the right to a birth certificate, which they need to get healthcare and education.
Our global EVERY ONE campaign to save young children's lives
As part of our EVERY ONE campaign to save the lives of children under five, we distributed 24,000 hats for newborn babies to help stop them getting pneumonia — one of the major risks to a newborn baby’s life. Giving out the hats also helped us to talk to mothers and health workers about hygiene and other measures they can take to keep their babies safe. In the coming year, as part of the campaign, we’ll be focusing on improving mothers and babies’ healthcare in the slum areas of Cairo and later in the poor rural areas of Upper Egypt.
We respond to emergencies
After a massive landslide west of Cairo in September 2008, we provided uniforms and school materials for 752 children so they could continue their education. We’ve also updated our emergency preparedness plans and we’re a member of the Egypt Disaster and Emergency Task Force.
Download the Egypt country brief (PDF 90KB) to find out more about our work.
Download the Egypt country brief in Arabic (PDF 184KB).
