On the jobs front, there is no clear route forward. The demographic, economic, and public health related challenges facing Egypt in the coming decades are serious concerns that require complex and coordinated policy solutions. In North Sinai, where government forces have been fighting an ISIS-affiliated group called Sinai Province (Wilayat Sinai), the army committed flagrant abuses of residents’ rights that amount in certain cases to collective punishment. Other women’s rights groups and women’s rights activists continue to face trial for their women’s rights activism including Mozn Hassan, head of Nazra for Feminist Studies, and Azza Soliman, head of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance, who remain under travel bans. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Share via Email. Inflation pressures are also easing, standing at 8.7% year-on-year in July 2019, the lowest in the past four years. NOTE: 1) The information regarding Egypt on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. Photos of young men with Italian girlfriends, sporting expensive clothing and shoes, circulate to friends and relatives, leading some villages to be emptied of young men.34. The Zohr gas field is the largest ever natural gas find in the Mediterranean, doubling Egypt’s reserves.60 And although Egypt’s gas exports are still a trickle, al-Sisi has publicly stated that his dream is make Egypt a regional hub for energy in the future.61 Egypt’s location close to major European markets is thought to be particularly favorable given Europe’s increasing gas use.62 Whether Egypt will be able to productively invest revenue from the natural gas windfall is uncertain. Prosecutions in the protracted “Case 173 0f 2011” into nongovernmental organizations’ foreign funding continued, despite calls from the United Nations, United States, and European Union to end them. The problem Egypt faced in 2011 was that although the old regime had been overthrown, it wasn’t clear what would replace it. Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi secured a second term in a largely unfree and unfair presidential election in March, his security forces have escalated a campaign of intimidation, violence, and arrests against political opponents, civil society activists, and many others who have simply voiced mild criticism of the government. Until the 2000s, Egypt witnessed declines in family size associated with increased access to family planning resources. Militant Islamic groups, including the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, operate in the Sinai Peninsula, as do anti-establishment and revolutionary groups such as the Popular Resistance Movement and Harakat Sawaid Masr. This book represents a look beyond theories and analogies to examine the challenges of strategy implementation. In one incident of sectarian violence on August 31, mobs ransacked and looted five homes in Minya’s Dimshau Hashim village, after rumors circulated that Christian villagers were planning to build a church. Authorities have regularly failed to protect Christians from sectarian attacks and to prosecute perpetrators. Similar conditions may also be influencing recent protest movements in Algeria and Sudan, which some analysts view as a continuation of the 2011 region-wide uprisings.17, Egypt’s current population is approximately 100 million and if current demographic trends continue, Egypt will have a population of 150 million by 2050.18 In addition, Egypt’s large population is youthful. A law signed in August of 2018 tightened government control of the internet, putting thousands of social media accounts under government surveillance.10 Al-Sisi has relied on external actors, including Gulf states, to support his increasingly authoritarian policies. The Egyptian government has shown that it has the capacity to make significant progress in some domains. Egypt’s Christian community, which comprises roughly 10 percent of the population and is the largest Christian minority in the Middle East, has suffered legal and social discrimination for decades. At least 28 leading rights activists have been banned from leaving the country as part of this case and could be arrested at any moment. Although he claimed enforced disappearances are not systematic in Egypt, he failed to explain why the Interior Ministry did not report the whereabouts of 500 people to families who had submitted official complaints. More. Prosecutors continued to use detainee confessions despite credible allegations they were coerced through torture. Both court systems are inherently abusive and do not meet minimum due process standards. Al-Sisi has given Egypt’s interior ministry free hand in perpetrating widespread abuses, including arbitrary arrests and torture against perceived dissidents, in a bid to create political stability.3 The Egyptian police have forcibly disappeared citizens leaving no legal trace of their whereabouts, using tactics more brutal and repressive than those witnessed under Mubarak.4 Alleged members and sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood have been particularly targeted, leading Brotherhood activists to be jailed and the group’s social service activity significantly reduced. In fact, Egypt implemented a set of family planning policies between the 1970s and the 2000s that successfully slowed the growth in family size. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Egypt Transnational Issues 2020 information contained here. There has been some governmental attempts to better the system of waste management since the 1960s but those have not proven sufficient until now. Over 90 percent of over 3,700 churches and buildings still work without a permit and lack legal protection. Politics | January 22nd 2021 Egypt restores full diplomatic ties with Qatar. Domestic … Since July 2013, Egyptian criminal courts have sentenced hundreds of people to death in cases stemming from alleged political violence. In late July, parliament also passed a new law regulating the press, the Media Regulation Law, which further restricts journalistic freedoms, allows censorship without judicial orders, and levies severe monetary fines for violating the law’s articles, in addition to prison sentences for cases related to “inciting violence.” Despite objections from Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate, parliament approved the law largely unamended. The attack killed 305 worshippers including 27 children. In February, Egypt passed a new law on the rights of persons with disabilities, 10 years after it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He remains in pretrial detention despite a heart condition. There is also a sense that the regime lacks the financial resources and political will to make the necessary updates to Cairo’s roads, rails, housing stock, and water systems. In March of 2017, there were bread riots across Egypt with demonstrators blocking roads and clashing with security forces in poor localities in Alexandria, Kafr al-Shaykh, Minya and Assyut.59 Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer and state-subsidized bread has long been an important part of the Egyptian diet. BUE is already leading many projects in renewable energy with funding from Egypt, the European Union and the British Council. Egypt’s main statistical agency, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), has said that the youth population boom constitutes a threat to national security, constituting a problem more serious than domestic terrorism.20 It is rumored that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is fearful of millennials, as a demographic group.21, Egypt’s current demographic situation was far from inevitable. Political instability may have led to some backsliding, however, on issues related to population control. To Read Text in PDF Format Click here. Aware of how the youth employment crisis could lead to political instability, the Egyptian government is currently intensifying efforts to improve the country’s education system. In February, the army announced a new campaign against militants of the ISIS-affiliated group known as Sinai Province. Share page. A North Sinai mosque was attacked in November 2017 during Friday prayers. More. About sharing. As Egypt’s population has increased, growth has put a strain on infrastructure. The restrictive Law 80 of 2016 on the construction of churches allowed for conditionally legalizing a small number of churches that were operating without an official permit, but restrictions remain largely in place. And from a demographic perspective, many of the same challenges that Egypt faced a decade ago—like a large youth population struggling with relatively high rates of unemployment—continue to be relevant concerns today. When SYPE respondents were asked what issues made them want to leave Egypt, more than 90 percent stated that the lack of job opportunities was encouraging them to emigrate. These health problems include the world’s highest obesity rates in addition to the highest global rates of Hepatitis C infection. Given the volume of labor market entrants every year, it is difficult to imagine that Egypt will see growth rates and job creation at the level required to find employment for so many young people. In the last five years, the Egyptian government has implemented a relatively robust response to the Hepatitis C epidemic. In July, the Trump administration announced that it would reinstate Foreign Military Financing funds to Egypt after withholding some funds in August 2017 pending improving democracy and human rights benchmarks, which were not published. The intensified crackdown also includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists, artists, and alleged or self-described atheists. Yet for all of the political change that has taken place, the last ten years have also witnessed important forms of continuity. Authorities arrested dozens of people who peacefully protested in May in response to increases in Cairo’s subway fare prices. … The army began another security buffer zone around al-Arish Airport, however authorities issued no laws to establish compensation for those whose properties have been damaged or destroyed and the exact area to be evicted. Chronic disease screenings also indicate high numbers of obesity-related disease including 5.3 million diabetes patients and another 3.6 million hypertension patients.43 Egyptians tend to consume relatively large quantities of low-quality foods in their diets. Egypt hosts refugees and asylum-seekers from more than 60 countries, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. On September 29, a criminal court sentenced Fathy to two years’ imprisonment for “publishing false news,” as well as a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (US$560) for making “public insults.” She continues to face charges in a separate case on trumped-up allegations of belonging to a terrorist organization. The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, the oldest independent labor rights group in Egypt, said that the elections were marred by violations such as  the exclusion from the electoral process of hundreds of candidates not aligned with the government. Online counseling anytime, anywhere. There are 700,000 new entrants into the labor force each year on top of large numbers of already unemployed youth.28 According to CAPMAS, only about 50 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are employed, and almost 40 percent of unemployed young adults hold university degrees.29. Egypt’s internal political situation does not need much effort to demonstrate instability as an important factor in dismissing and discouraging foreign investment. The security forces have committed widespread abuses during the protracted campaign including … Fewer than 10 percent of respondents said that they use a computer for work. Factbook > Countries > Egypt > Geography. But without the right investments in youth health and education, as well as opportunities for suitable employment, Egypt’s economic future will be limited. Health. Any interruption to the Egypt’s agricultural food supply has the potential to be extremely destabilizing. Copy link . Join the Hoover Institution’s Be supported when you need it with unlimited sessions from your licensed counselor over smartphone, tablet or computer. A great deal of attention has focused on the role social media played in the 2011 uprisings, from shaping political debates to mobilizing events on the ground to spreading democratic ideas.36 Analysts have suggested that the 2011 uprisings may have had a subsequent feedback effect on technological innovation and the entrepreneurial start-up scene in Egypt.37 In recent years, Egyptian companies have innovated successfully in artificial intelligence (AI). Private investment is picking up and net exports are improving. Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808, Violence and Discrimination against Women, Girls, and LGBT People, As China’s Grip Tightens, Global Institutions Gasp, You Should Be Worrying about the Woman Shortage, carried out a series of arbitrary arrests, number of death sentences in the world in 2017, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), allowed for conditionally legalizing a small, The rights group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) documented, in the view of trade unionists and labor activists. The next day, pro-government and state-owned media outlets initiated a smear campaign against Fathy and then on May 11, authorities arrested her. In 2014, the Egyptian government rolled out an online portal for people to register for treatment, and in the last few years, more than 1.6 million Egyptians have received Hepatitis C treatment.47 The Egyptian government has been working with Gilead Sciences to offer Hepatitis C treatment in Egypt at a fraction of what it costs in the United States.48 In addition, in 2017 Egypt’s Ministry of Health also initiated a new nationwide screening program for Hepatitis C.49 The government’s ability to make tangible progress on Hepatitis C treatment is encouraging and suggests the state has the capacity to implement large-scale social interventions under the right conditions. Opposition and civil society leaders have been completely muzzled and most Islamist activists are in jail or exile. In April, parliament approved constitutional amendments to lengthen the presidential term from four to six years, which would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030 if he wins another election. President Sisi recently declared 2019 “the year of education,” and public education spending was increased by 8 percent for the 2018/19 fiscal year. Few analysts would disagree with the statement that demographic circumstances and technological developments played a crucial role in sparking and sustaining the popular movement that set this chain of events into motion. Home/Issues/ Informal Economy in Egypt: Problems and Solutions. Given the country’s political, economic, and social challenges, whether the Egyptian government will be able to achieve its objectives remains to be seen. Mohamed Ahmed Abbas 2 April، 2019. Another 20 percent said that there was no suitable work given their experience and degree or at a suitable organization or firm. Egypt’s population is mushrooming at an alarming rate and has increased by 41 percent since the early 1990s. Their team of dedicated experts supports you in case of queries or problems. In the years since Morsi’s overthrow, Egypt has witnessed increasingly autocratic tendencies under the leadership of President al-Sisi. Thousands of Egyptian bloggers, journalists and political activists have been jailed; websites have been banned and the media is under strict control. She is the author of Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Lisa Blaydes is a professor of political science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Yet restrictions on freedom of religion remain largely in place. A successful path forward on this issue will require continued cooperation with international pharmaceutical companies as well as increased screening and outreach. For example, Egyptian classroom densities are commonly in excess of one hundred students, and a large percentage of eighth grade students do not meet basic literacy standards.39, Economists who have explored these issues in great depth suggest that Egypt’s crisis of youth opportunity relates specifically to the lack of upward mobility for middle-class Egyptians.40 While overall measures of inequality of opportunity may have declined in Egypt over time, the fortunes of those born into the middle class have become increasingly similar to those born into lower-class families. George Pratt Shultz is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In fact, thousands of Egyptians have expatriated for political reasons, fearful of court convictions, lawsuits, attacks in the media, and the threat of physical attack.13 And the Egyptians who have left represent all walks of political life, including leftists and liberals as well as Islamists.14 The Egyptian legislature has never been a particularly effective counterweight to the executive; this is even more so the case today than in the past. Unlike other countries in the region, Egypt has taken no steps to ban forced anal examinations of people accused of homosexual conduct. Beginning in January, the army launched the most intensive wave of home demolitions in Sinai in years. Studies have suggested that about 19 million Egyptians are obese, accounting for about 35 percent of the adult population. And although al-Sisi has brought forms of public stability to the country, he does not garner high levels of loyalty among Egyptians, many of whom disapprove of his repressive tactics.8 From a rhetorical perspective, al-Sisi engages in continual fearmongering, threatening that the chaos in regional neighbors like Libya, Syria, and Yemen could come to Egypt.9, Egyptians enjoy fewer personal freedoms today than compared to the Mubarak period. Authorities  pressured victims to accept a government-mediated “reconciliation” that allows perpetrators to evade prosecutions, while authorities offered no concrete future protections to the worshippers and their families. Authorities have also either returned or threatened to return Sudanese, including those with refugee status, despite the likelihood that they may face persecution in Sudan. Authorities held in May the first trade union elections in Egypt in 12 years. Fertility rates began increasing in the years leading up to 2011, however, as a result of a relaxation of family planning policies.22 Political instability may have also influenced implementation of population-related policies. The government continued to silence critics through arrests and unfair prosecutions of journalists and bloggers, and the parliament issued severely restrictive laws that further curtail freedom of speech and access to information. There is limited public information on the implementation of Egypt’s 2016 law on combating “irregular” immigration. Egypt Environment - current issues. Economic activity appears to have improved somewhat in recent months, following a 1.7% year-on-year contraction in Q2 (Q1: +5.0% yoy). The government has failed to adequately protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, and, in some cases, even punished them for speaking out on this issue. Given these forms of change and stasis, where is Egypt heading? Building on Samuel Huntington’s concept of a “veto” coup, scholars have argued the overthrow of Egypt’s first (and only) democratically-elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in June of 2013 constituted a “popular-participatory veto coup.”1 Concerned about Morsi’s attempts to usurp political power and damage the independence of the judiciary, liberal activists called for popular demonstrations against the president.2 Ordinary Egyptians, emboldened by the efficacy that they felt in the wake of the 2011 protest uprisings, went back to the streets to express their disapproval of the perceived power grab by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. An official statistical survey concluded that 32.5% of Egy… Authorities continue to arrest those who describe themselves as non-believers or atheists and jail them under “insulting religions” charges. Disruptions to the Nile flow associated with the dam could increase scarcity at a time when Egypt is witnessing significant population growth. 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