Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said that the initiative came in response to doctors’ requests to voluntarily contribute to their homeland and participate in the Decent Life national project.

Makram noted that the initiative aims to benefit from the experiences of Egyptian scientists abroad, mobilising them for the gigantic national project, a statement by the health ministry said.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Acting Minister of Health Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar welcomed the desire of Egyptian doctors abroad to support their homeland with their experiences in various medical specialties, the statement said.

The two ministers called on all Egyptian doctors abroad to participate in the national project by filling out the data registration form.

The Decent Life national project (Hayah Karima in Arabic) was initiated experimentally in 2019 by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and its first phase was officially launched in July 2021. The project aims to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and basic services including health care across the countryside.

The project covers 4,658 villages across the country, which are home to 58 percent of Egypt’s 102 million population, with an estimated budget of EGP 700 billion (about $44.6 billion). Its first phase, whose budget is estimated at EGP 250 billion and covers 1,500 villages, is due to be completed by the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year.

In October, Egypt launched an online platform for expats in the US to donate $1 million to the Decent Life project through an official website.