On December 12, His Excellency Ambassador James Moran, Head of European Union Delegation to Egypt, unveiled in a press conference a programme financed by the EU to improve five informal areas in Greater Cairo. The five informal areas targeted are Matariya in Cairo, Old Boulaq in Giza and Qalyub, Shubra and Khosoos in Qalyubeya Governorates.
The EU has signed an Agreement with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the Egyptian-German Development Cooperation to implement a five year Programme which will focus on improving the livelihoods of the residents in the areas.
HE Ambassador Moran said that “the Programme is in line with the Egyptian Government’s policy to improve informal areas and to address unemployment with an emphasis on helping women and youth. The Programme will be based on community needs and will be agreed with the community and participants including civil society, local authorities and the private sector who will jointly work together in a spirit of cooperation to develop the areas. The Programme is part of the €90m EU Spring Package Programme for Egypt which was recently signed by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Ziad Bahaa El Din at the end of November.” Ambassador Moran added that the EU supported the role of civil society in a democratic Egypt and in particular its contribution to the development of informal areas.
Projects to be supported through grant aid and technical support will address numerous community needs including unemployment, environment, health, education, community facilities and infrastructure in the five informal areas.
The Programme jointly financed by the EU and the German Government is part of the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP), which has been working in Egypt since 2004 improving informal areas and which is managed by GIZ.GIZ is currently implementing a similar programme on behalf of the EU in four other informal areas in Cairo and Giza Governorates. This is a four year programme which started in 2012.
Staff in the three Governorates, together with PDP Staff will provide technical support for the implementation of the projects.
Within the GIZ MENA Sector Network on Urban Development and Local Governance, the GIZ Participatory Development Programme (PDP) is currently assessing the environment for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Egypt and in the whole MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). Therefore, selected CSOs were invited to a round table discussion on 23rd of December 2013 where they enthusiastically shared their experience of working as CSOs in the Egyptian context.
The focus of the discussion was based on the topics that might challenge an enabling and open environment for CSO operation in Egypt, such as their advocacy ability or the regulatory framework. In a next step it was analyzed how those challenges impact on the daily work of CSOs and what improvements are desired for the future.
The discussion results will serve as input to finally come up with a report to be used in lobbying for a positive change in the CSO environment in Egypt and the MENA region.
For more information on the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP), please download the PDP fact sheet available in English and Arabic.
Council group from the EU Council made of representatives from all the Member States visited Egypt for two days in early December. They made a visit to a PDP informal area to see the challenges faced by the many communities living in informal areas in Greater Cairo Region.
On 3 December the group of 35 visitors together with representatives from the EU Delegation and PDP visited Geziret El Dahab in Giza to visit the youth centre recently upgraded by GIZ. The Group, led by Mr. Reinhold Brender, Deputy Head of EU Delegation in Cairo were able to visit the upgraded library, see the enhanced sports facility and also hear from youth representatives who sit on the local area dialogue committee which was established through the PDP
*The Maghreb is made up of three North African countries: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The Mashreq comprises four eastern Mediterranean states: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The PDP would like to inform you that the date, time and place has been confirmed for the launching event of the First Call for Proposals:Improving Services in the Informal Areas, Enhancing Employability and Promoting Income Generation in Cairo(Ain Shams and Ezbet al Nasr) and Giza (El Warraq and Masaken Geziret al Dahab including Saqiet Mekky)
A Press Conference followed by an Information Session will take place on Sunday, November 10, 2013 at 9 amin the Marriott Hotel, Aida Hall, Zamalek Cairo.
The GIZ-Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP) together with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Centre d’études et de documentation économiques, juridiques et sociales (CEDEJ) have successfully implemented the 2nd Egypt Urban Futures Workshop on October 28th at the French Cultural Centre in Mounira, tackling the topic of, the ‘Role of Private Sector in Informal Areas Upgrading)’.
The opening speech has been given by Mrs. Manal Shahin, Manager for Northern Governorates & Greater Cairo NGOs at the Informal Settlements Development Fund (ISDF), where she spoke of joining hands for combating challenge of informal settlements on the public and private side. She also mentioned that ISDF plans to stop the growth of informal settlements until 2017. Then she highlighted that encouraging CSOs to become engaged in development and in the implementation of plans, as well as the importance of the role of the private sector in Corporate Social Responsibility in informal areas upgrading.
Then the workshop was divided into three sessions: a) the role of the informal private sector in informal areas upgrading; b) the role of corporate social responsibility in the informal areas upgrading; and c) the role of formal private sector companies in informal areas upgrading. The speakers came from many prominent organisations i.e. governmental bodies, corporations, international organisations, as well as, development experts and private companies supporting developmental projects; such diversity gave the attendees different perspectives on the topic and allowed for a fruitful discussion.
The workshop series is a joint initiative by the CEDEJ, UN-HABITAT and GIZ-PDP as a continuation of the Expert Discussion Meetings on urban development that have been carried out monthly since 2008.
The PDP is an Egyptian-German development programme implemented by the Ministry of Planning (MoP) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its aim is to enhance the living conditions for the poor urban population in Informal Areas of Greater Cairo Region.
With € 20 million from the EU and € 4 million from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), PDP works with local partners including public administration, civil society, and the private sector to upgrade altogether four informal areas in the Governorates of Cairo and Giza until 2016.
For further information, please contact Dr. Günther Wehenpohl (, www.egypt-urban.de)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is seeking proposals for projects which will improve the employability and vocational skills of the unemployed, promote income generating activities and improve the standards and range of services available to the community in the Cairo (Ain Shams and Ezbet el Nasr) and Giza (El Warraq and Masaken Gezirit al Dahab including Saquiet Mekki) Governorates with financial assistance from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Financial Cooperation with Mediterranean Countries.
The full Guidelines for Applicants are available for consultation at: GIZ, Participatory Development Programme, 12 Saleh Ayoub Str., 5th floor, app. 12, 11211 Zamalek, Cairo and from the following internet sites:
EU website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome
The deadline for submission of proposals is 5th January, 2014.
An information session on this Call for Proposals will be held on 10th November 2013 at 9.a.m. However, this date is indicative and date, time and location will be confirmed on the PDP website no later than the 5th November 2013.
An environmental awareness campaign was organised in Khosoos last week to mark World Environment Day. Awareness activities, such as cleaning the streets around the schools, planting trees, and painting school walls took place. At the end of the day there was an awareness session for all the community members about World Environment Day.
The purpose of the campaign was to create awareness and involve the local community in activities to improve the living and environmental conditions in Khosoos. 25 students from the area participated in the event, all of them “Environmental Guards” who have been trained by the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP) to take care of the environment inside their schools.
“We need to teach young people about hygiene so when they grow up they make sure their neighbourhoods are clean. Hygiene is very important to life”, said Ahlam Abdel-Meguid Mohamed, a 12-years old student and environmental guard at Khosoos Primary School.
The event was organised by the solid waste management component of the PDP in cooperation with the city council and the NGO “Friends of the Environment”. The city council and Friends of the Environment contributed with vehicles to collect the garbage, workers and soil for the garden that was planted outside the school complex. Among the attendees was also Khosoos city chief Abdel-Barah Hasheesh.
The PDP’s Solid Waste Management (SWM) activities focus on establishing an integrated and community-based solid waste management system in two cities in Qalyubya: Khosoos and Khanka. The aim is to recover valuable resources that exist in waste, by building sustainable and environmentally sound methods for composting and recycling.
PDP Coordinator and SWM Manager Dr. Günther Wehenpohl said: “Our aim is to build trust among different actors in the solid waste management system, while at same time improving environmental conditions for people living in Khosoos.”
The PDP is an Egyptian-German development programme implemented by the Ministry of Planning (MOP) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its aim is to enhance the living conditions for the poor urban population of Greater Cairo.
PDP targets the Greater Cairo Region where 60% of the people live in unplanned, densely populated areas that lack basic services and social infrastructure, and are suffering from environmental pollution.
More information about the Participatory Development Programme can be found on:egypt-urban.net
Four Local Area Dialogue Committees (LADCs) have been created following community elections in Ain Shams and Ezbet el-Nasr in Cairo, Markaz El-Abhath/ Warraq and Masaken Geziret El-Dahab in Giza.
The committees will be responsible for monitoring and following up on community needs. They represent the community when it comes to interactions with the programme.
Community meetings were held to form LADCs in each area. Each candidate had the chance to introduce and speak about themselves and the activities they had been involved in, followed by elections and vote counting. That process took place after an initial presentation on LADC roles and objectives. Attendees interested in joining the Committee nominated themselves according to different community groups. In all four areas the evening ended successfully with the formation of an LADC.
“Becoming a member of the LADC was a great experience for me. I am grateful to GIZ for providing such an opportunity for me as a woman to participate in developing my community” said Soad El Sawy, a community volunteer and now a LADC member in Ain Shams.
Each LADC comprises of 20 members, representing NGOs, community services such as (schools, youth centres and hospitals), business people, elected local council members, community leaders, as well as any other residents interested in developing their community.
“The LADCs will act as a community voice in communicating both from the people their needs and aspirations and to the people information about community development progress” said Michael Heathcote, PDP Fund Manager.
The selection process will be repeated every year.