Dr. Neveen Al-Qabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, delivered Egypt’s speech before the meetings of the 61st session of the UN Social Development Committee, where she expressed her happiness to participate in this year’s session to share Egypt’s experience in creating full and productive employment and decent work opportunities to accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister noted that poverty is a social and economic phenomenon rooted in many economies and societies, and all mankind seeks to mitigate its severity to attain a decent life, as the vast majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas, where almost 70% of the poor survive on less than two dollars a day.
She explained that small companies, especially in developing countries, face many obstacles, including limited funding, lack of bank guarantees, and at times inability to provide official documents or manage funds and deal with Markets.
She further emphasized that when Covid-19 hit the world in 2020, it affected everyone, not only in rural areas but also in urban areas, middle classes, and even most developed countries.
Al-Qabbaj confirmed that the Ministry of Social Solidarity plays a pivotal role in building, protecting, and investing in people by expanding the social safety net, economic empowerment programs, investing in vocational training and financial inclusion, and empowering vulnerable groups, which form an essential part of Egypt’s human rights strategy that launched in September 2021.
