Egypt

Overall View

Egypt plays a leading geo-strategic, political and economic role in Africa, the Middle East and beyond. It is one of the continent’s most populous countries (76.1 million persons), and ranks 119th on the 2003 Human Development Index (HDI)ranking, out of 177 countries.

It has been in the spotlight lately for its significant political and economic reforms. In 2005, it held the first direct multi-candidate presidential election, and the first parliamentary elections which brought to the parliament numerous independent candidates; signifying progress in the freedom of expression. In the economic sphere, Egypt's Partnership Agreement with the EU in 2001 and its free access to the American market by virtue of the Qualified Industrial Zones Agreement (QIZ) in 2004 have accelerated its integration into the global market. A reform-minded cabinet is introducing major reforms for boosting economic performance and competitiveness, in order to meet the challenges of this opening. These reforms include: a simplifying taxation law, accelerating privatization and fighting bureaucracy and corruption. In parallel, it is developing instruments to protect the poor from negative repercussions of those reforms; examples include a unified labour law in 2003, the first Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) law in 2004, and the first strategy on Micro-finance in 2005.

Economic growth, now around 4%, is expected to accelerate to 5-6% in coming years. The main challenge will be to ensure that growth generates more and better jobs, and is pro-poor. Unemployment reached 11% in 2003, with the highest rate among the age bracket between 15-25 years (women particularly), who constitute some 90% of the unemployed. That same year, poverty was affecting almost one fifth of the population, and over one third in rural Upper Egypt, while the ultra poor (those unable to cover their basic food needs) were some 3% and 7%, respectively. It is noteworthy, though, that rural Upper Egypt suffers both from a higher poverty incidence that is on the rise, and greater poverty depth; that is, low sensitivity to changes in growth and consumption levels. Social security reached about one fourth of the population.

In a nutshell, youth employment, poverty reduction coupled with a decrease in regional disparities, employment creation through SMEs, human resource development, and the upgrading of a number of large, employment-intensive sectors such as tourism, textiles and construction are key priorities for the country.

Activities

• Labour standards

  • Promoting the ratification and implementation of ILO conventions
  • Combating child labour.
  • Building the capacity of officials working on labour standards in the Ministry of Manpower and Migration (MOMM);
  • Raising awareness and building capacity of the heads of workers' committees in the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), on the existing tools to access ILO Conventions in Arabic and comments of the supervisory bodies;
  • Addressing Egyptian employers' needs regarding their Global Compact Commitments, in the areas of job evaluation for equal remuneration, child labour and women enterpreneurship.

• Employment

  • Supporting national employment policy
  • Empowering Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), through strengthening representation of their association(s) (capacity building through staff training, awareness raising among members, direct support in their policy-oriented and field work.
  • Stimulating the development of a MSMEs friendly environment.
  • Promoting entrepreneurship culture, through training trainers specialized in entrepreneurship and management training, using ILO training tools for micro- and small entrepreneurs;
  • Developing a tripartite Action Programme for the construction sector, the textile and garment industry, and the tourism sector
  • Supporting a National Action Plan for youth employment;
  • Promoting human resource development and vocational training, through a Continuous Apprenticeship Pilot Programme for youth employment.
  • Analyzing the transition from school to work and the impact of vocational training on graduates

• Social protection

  • Promoting HIV/AIDS policies and code of practice at the workplace.
  • Establishing a National profile on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), as a basis for developing a National OSH plan of action .
  • Developing an action plan in the construction industry, comprising an OSH component
  • Publishing internationally validated chemical safety datasheets in Arabic on chemical safety
  • Promoting an OSH management system within enterprises, in collaboration with the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI)
  • Undertaking OSH World Say activities, in collaboration with ILO constituents
  • Reinforcing the capacities of the CIS National centre, through staff participation in international meetings undertaken on a regular basis, and extending the network of CIS centres to include the Egyptian trade Union Federation
  • Building capacity of ILO constituents in accessing OSH information worldwide
  • Conducting awareness-raising campaigns on HIV/AIDS and the world of work tourism sector.

• Social dialogue

  • Developing a tripartite Action Programme for the construction sector, the textile and garment industry, and the tourism sector to create more and better employment opportunities through social dialogue.
  • Raising awareness and building capacity of the heads of workers' committees in the ETUF, on the existing tools to access ILO Concentions in Arabic and comments of the supervisory bodies.
  • Addressing Egyptian employers' needs regarding their Global Compact commitments in the areas of job evaluation for equal remuneration, child labour and women entrepreneurship.

• Cross-Sectorial Activities

  • Combating poverty.
  • Engendering Egypt's socio-economic context.