EU/Egypt Programmes

II. European Commission/ Egypt Co-operation Status of Ongoing Projects funded under MEDA I   Education Enhancement Programme EC Financing: €100 million Egyptian Government Commitment: €428.4 million Starting Date: January 1999 Implementation Period: 5 years + 2 years extension Project Authority: Ministry of Education
The Education Enhancement Programme aims to improve the basic education system in Egypt - focusing on educationally less privileged geographical areas - and progress towards the goal of universal elementary education. The programme targets increased enrolment and reduction of dropouts, especially among girls and children of disadvantaged communities; improved quality of teaching; and strengthened planning and management capacities. Universal access and enrolments, leading to increased welfare through social and economic upgrading, are the long-term goals of the programme. The programme will encourage the educational system to be more responsive to local requirements and become more community-oriented. To achieve these objectives, i.e. access and equity, quality of education and system efficiency, the European Commission has committed €100 million for programme activities in 15 selected governorates (Fayoum, Sharqia, Beheyra, Qena, Gharbeya, Aswan, Qalyobia, Damietta, Beni Suef, Menya, Ismaelia, Dakhalia, Kafr El Sheikh and Suhag governorates and Luxor City). At the end of 2004 approximately €80 million have been disbursed to the Egyptian beneficiary. A paradigm in the education system in Egypt has been in initialized by the end of 2004 by putting into effect a pilot program under Education Enhancement Programme the Effective School Program. The aim of the Effective School Programme is to decentralize the management and teaching methods from the Ministry of Education to 300 selected schools in 10 Governorates and to strengthen community participation. In 2005, the programme will be subject to subsequent financial audits and impact evaluations.
Health Sector Reform Programme EC Financing: €110 million Total Disbursement: €32 million Starting Date: November 1999 Implementation Period: 5 years - extended until July 2005 Beneficiary: Ministry of Health and Population
Egypt’s health sector is being characterised by fragmentation in the delivery of health services, excessive reliance on (costly) patient and specialist care and low quality of primary care service as the main constraints. The government of Egypt has articulated as its long-term goal, the achievement of a universal coverage of basic health services for all its citizens with special emphasis on the most vulnerable groups in society. Against this background the Health Sector Support Programme (HSRP) was launched in 1998 aimed at (a) introducing Family Health (FH) as the new model for improving the management and provision of health care services at primary level, (b) redefining the mandate, role and functions of the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and (c) introducing a sustainable universal health insurance system. The EC, World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AFDB), USAID and a number of bilateral donor agencies are providing financial and technical support to this process. Under EC’s support to the HSRP (EGY/ B-7-4100/IB/1050/98) €110 million was made available for: Upgrading a large number of health facilities and the procurement of essential medical, training and office equipment;   The establishment of a Family Health Fund (FHF) in 5 pilot governorates with the aim of purchasing a Basic Package of Services (BBP) from accredited health facilities to cover the uninsured;   Providing technical assistance, management support and training services to the sector. The Health Sector Reform Programme has successfully piloted and implemented a new, family oriented model of primary care in Alexandria, Menoufia, Suhag, Quena and Suez. To date, over 300 Family Health Units have been accredited by the Quality Improvement Department, far exceeding the initial target. The programme is operational in 19 districts, serving a total of 4.6 million people. Under the Programme, Family Health Funds have been established to purchase a package of well defined services for the non-insured from accredited units. The Family Health Funds have adopted a strategic institutional development plan and will gradually start purchasing hospital services. The programme is also studying options for sustainable financing of the Family Health Fund through a national health insurance scheme that would cover the entire population. Meanwhile, revenue of the Fund are also being generated through new user fees and co-payments for prescribed drugs under the mechanism approved in Decree 147 of 2003. The guaranteed availability of essential drugs at subsidized prices is a key feature of the decree and while implementation has just commenced, the initial response of the users of the Family Health Units is highly favorable. In Suhag, the programme has successfully piloted a District Provider Organization, which it proposes to use as a model for the organization of all Ministry primary and secondary care facilities. These developments set the path for a progressive separation of functions in the public sector of the health system into those of a central regulator with decentralized purchaser and provider organizations that utilize all health resources in the country effectively. Within the Ministry of Health, this rationalization has begun by consolidating the different organizations concerned with pharmaceuticals to create the Egyptian Drug Authority. In order to prepare the family health teams for their new role, a co-coordinated programme of 16 specialized training courses has been prepared and delivered to the staff of all primary care facilities. The programme is also collaborating with the National Training Institute to create an internationally recognized Health Leadership Development Programme. Progress as regards the improvement of the service delivery component has so far been more substantial as compared to the envisioned restructuring of the MOHP and the establishment of a sustainable universal health insurance system (the other two main components of the HSRP). Recent policy statements suggest that the Family Health concept, developed and piloted under the HSRP, will now be adopted as the national strategy for improving the management and provision of service delivery at primary level. Following the positive outcome of an external review conducted early 2005, the MOHP has now decided to gradually “roll out” the FH concept to 9 additional governorates. Now that the FH model has been successfully piloted and the required management systems developed, the main challenge will be to “mainstream” the reform throughout the MOHP’s administrative system at central and governorate level. At national policy level there are some encouraging developments ongoing at the moment, suggesting that there is also increasing commitment to address some of the more fundamental issues of the reform, such as efficient and effective resource mobilisation, management and allocation, the separation between health care financing and service provision and the designated new role of the MOHP as policy making and regulatory body. Despite the fact that sustainable health financing is currently high on the political agenda, related legal and institutional decisions are yet to be taken. For that reason the EC is considering to continue its support to the sector for a longer period.   Social Fund for Development – Phase II EC Financing:  €155 million Egyptian Government Commitment: €77 million Financing Agreement:  29 March 1998 End of the Programme: 30 June 2005 Project Authority: Social Fund for Development (SFD) Consultancy Services: Arcadis Euroconsult
The overall objective is to contribute to the reduction of poverty in Egypt, create employment and sustain the economic growth of the country. This is achieved through the contribution to each of Social Fund for Development’s five main programmes: Public Works Community Development, Small Enterprise Development, Human Resources Development and Institutional Development. It was agreed between the SFD and the Donors to undertake an Impact Assessment Study (IAS) just prior to the second Multi Donor Review Mission (MDRM II) to provide the Review Mission Members with pertinent information about the impact of the investments of the SFD. The global objective of the Impact Assessment was to measure the impact of sectoral project interventions of SFD in key areas of intervention, on the respective target groups based on quantitative and qualitative data sources; thus contributing to the solidity of the findings of the MDRM II.. Both, IAS and MDRM II were finalised end of 2004. The overall result of this study is that substantial positive impacts can be observed in most SFD programmes. The Impact Assessment has shown that SFD programmes effectively and directly reach out to the poor (if not the very poorest). In the last six months of implementation, activities were concentrated on three major priorities. implementation of an Management Information System (MIS) contracting of 11 micro-credit lines (76 mio EGP) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) credit facility through Small enterprise Development Organisation (SEDO) and National Bank of Egypt (NBE) (157 mio EGP) The main objective for the implementation of a new MIS within SFD has been the automation of its business processes with 3 new business applications and the installation of new IT Infrastructure that creates an efficient, transparent and effective organization.   Industrial Modernisation Programme EC Financing: EC Financing: Financing Agreement Signed Financing Agreement Signed Starting Date: Starting Date: Implementation Period: Implementation Period: End of programme: : End of programme Project Authority: Project Authority: Main Consultancy Services: Provided by European, Egyptian and MEDA based service providers
The purpose of the rider is to streamline EU support to the industrial modernisation process in Egypt. The rider will transform €175 million into budgetary support to the Egyptian Government, thus reinforcing the implementation of the Egyptian Government’s policies and initiatives conducive to enhanced business environment and private sector development. The budgetary support instrument will provide for a more efficient and rapid disbursement of EU funds. The funds will be released in two tranches against the fulfilment of benchmarks in the banking, fiscal and business environment sector. The rider also foresees support to the creation of a credit guarantee mechanism to facilitate access to finance by private manufacturing enterprises. The main objectives of the Industrial Modernisation Programme are to promote GDP growth and competitiveness of the private enterprise sector, with special emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of continued economic liberalisation. The programme will also foster employment and entrepreneurial spirit. The specific programme objectives are to assist private enterprises in their development, to strengthen business associations, to support institutions and services, to improve the sector policy framework and to strengthen the Ministry of Industry and Technological Development. The Industrial Modernisation Programme is managed by the Industrial Modernisation Centre providing demand-driven services for the private sector companies and institutions and support to the Ministry of Industry, notably in the policy-making area. The Industrial Modernisation Centre has been designed to act primarily as an incubator of sub-programmes or management units of support services for private sector enterprises and institutions. Once these units, including a network of nation-wide business resource centres, have been established and have become fully operational, they are to be spun off to outside service providers. In 2003, a network of three Business Resource Centres was established in Alexandria, 6th October and 10th Ramadan with first support services towards the regional business community. In Damietta, a cluster of furniture enterprises benefited from the Industrial Modernisation Centre support in the quality, training and product promotion fields. The Centre has signed an agreement with some international institutions and recognised players for the concrete support of a cluster of enterprises in Borg El Arab and in the textile sector. In the policy domain, a green paper on Innovation and Industrial Policy has been prepared and largely disseminated. During 2004, the Industrial Modernisation Centre has started by launching concrete actions targeted to the upgrading of a number of innovative enterprises with significant exportation capabilities. The Business Resource Centre network is expanding, notably by the creation of branches and antennas to the exiting centres, as well as a new centre in Cairo. For more information: http://www.imc-egypt.org/en/index.asp