The Population Council established a regional office in Cairo in
1977 to foster interdisciplinary approaches to population
studies in West Asia and North Africa.
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Photo credit: Nadia Zibani |
For more than 25 years, the Council successfully conducted the
Middle East Research Awards (MEAwards) program to deepen the
skills of junior researchers through seminars, workshops,
awards, technical assistance, and fellowships. MEAwards recently
shifted its focus to fostering the expertise of institutions in
selected countries with special needs, such as Sudan. In
consultation with partner institutions and social scientists
from the region, the Council is exploring the possibility of
establishing an Arab social science research council to support
research in the Arab region.
The Council's program agenda in the Middle East has broadened to address issues related to
reproductive health, health care reform, transitions to
adulthood, gender-based violence, and female genital
mutilation/cutting. Strengthening the country's professional
resources remains an underlying
theme. Increasingly, the Council provides technical assistance
to the government, nongovernmental organizations, and community-based organizations
engaged in delivering social services. This work has
strengthened the Council’s position as an evaluator of major
national programs.
Council staff members in Egypt plan to broaden the scope of work on
poverty, gender, and youth to address issues related to urban
poverty, labor markets, youth unemployment, and access to
education. The Council is also exploring initiatives related to
HIV and AIDS, solidifying its experience in monitoring and
evaluation, and scaling up successful interventions to national
and regional levels.
- Fostered the skills of generations of scholars in the Middle East
through the MEAwards program.
- Conducted the first nationally representative survey of
adolescents in 1997, which provided a comprehensive profile
of transitions to adulthood in Egypt and remains an
influential data source for policy and program design.
- Tested the first comprehensive intervention in Egypt for
empowering out-of-school adolescent girls, one of the most
marginalized populations in the country. Following the successful
pilot phase, the project, known as Ishraq, is preparing to
expand nationally with the support of Egypt’s Ministry of
Youth and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood
(NCCM).
- Explored the links between gender norms, sexuality, and
female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) through evaluation of
countrywide interventions undertaken by NCCM in
collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and UNICEF.
- Translated over 100 Council publications into Arabic to
help narrow the information gap and to provide vital
evidence for program and policy improvements.
See Also
Offsite Link
- INTACT Network (a
Population Council initiative to enhance communications and research
utilization in the FGC field.)
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Fast Facts |
| Population (millions)
|
74 |
| Total fertility rate |
3.2 |
Infant deaths per
1,000 live births |
37 |
Maternal deaths per
100,000 live births |
84 |
Girls aged 20–24 married
by age 18 (%)
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33 |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence (%) |
<0.05 |
| Living below US $2 per day (%) |
44 |
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What's New |
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Ragui Assaad recently presented "The Ishraq program in Egypt" (PDF)
and "Ishraq program: Intervening before it's too late" (PDF)
at the consultation meeting "A Focus on Out-of school Girls in Rural
Areas in Yemen."
The Population Council is pleased to announce the launch of a collection
of Council resources in Arabic.
This library of documents and explanations of key research topics and
project descriptions is meant to enhance access to research findings for the
world’s 270 million Arabic speakers. (more)
Stay Informed
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Publications/Resources |
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“Linking family planning with postabortion services in Egypt: Testing the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of two models of integration”
(2007)
(PDF)
"Providing new opportunities to adolescent girls in
socially conservative settings: The Ishraq program in rural Upper Egypt—Full
report"
(2007) (PDF)
"The Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey, 2006 (ELMPS):
Survey description" (2006) (offsite
PDF)
More
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