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Minister of State for Family and Population Signs
Tripartite Agreement with National Council for Youth
and Population Council for Expansion of Ishraq Project

CAIRO, EGYPT (May 2010) — The Minister of State for Family and Population, Ambassador Moushira Khattab, signed a tripartite agreement with the National Council for Youth and the Population Council to collaborate on the expansion of the Ishraq program, currently being  implemented by the Population Council, to an additional 30 villages in the governorates of Qena, Sohag, and Fayoum, with generous funding from the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands. The agreement is signed within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to improve the life conditions of girls and Egyptian families.   

Ishraq is a program that aims at improving life opportunities for out-of-school girls and offers them a second chance to rejoin the formal education system. The program implements a holistic package of skills that includes literacy, numeracy, life skills, and sports for out-of-school adolescent girls between the ages of 12 and 15  in 30 youth centers in the selected villages.

Ishraq was piloted in 2001 in four villages in Minya, and it had a positive impact on the lives of girls who participated. Following the success of the pilot project, Ishraq is currently being replicated in 30 additional villages to reach 1,800 girls. The  program now includes a new financial literacy curriculum that was added to the initial package of skills taught, and provides a meal for the project participants and their families. With the tripartite agreement, the three parties will work jointly to ensure continued coverage and sustainability of the Ishraq program.

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See also: News release in Arabic (PDF)

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The Population Council confronts critical health and development issues—from stopping the spread of HIV to improving reproductive health and ensuring that young people lead full and productive lives. Through biomedical, social science, and public health research in 50 countries, we work with our partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective policies, programs, and technologies that improve lives around the world. Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York, the Council is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization governed by an international board of trustees.

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Media contact
Abeer Salem: asalem@popcouncil.org; +20 2 2525 5967