Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Thursday that the Decent Life initiative to upgrade life in the countryside is Egypt’s biggest megaproject in its modern history.

“The Suez Canal was Egypt’s megaproject in the 19th century, the construction of Aswan High Dam was Egypt’s megaproject in the 20th century and the Decent Life project is Egypt’s megaproject in the 21st century,” said the Egyptian prime minister in the first conference on the Decent Life initiative held at Cairo International Stadium.

In a presentation in front of Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Madbouly described the project as the hardest, biggest and most comprehensive project that would change and upgrade the quality of life in Egypt over the past seven years.

Describing it as the biggest in the world, Mostafa Madbouly said that it is the only project in the world to fulfill all the United Nations’ sustained developments goals in the 21st century.

“There are already more than 20 presidential initiatives on health, education, as well as other issues, under the umbrella of Decent Life initiative,” the premier said in his presentation.

According to the prime minister, the Decent Life initiative costs more than EGP 700 billion (about $44.6 billion).

“It is a 100 percent Egyptian project,” he added.

Madbouly revealed that the project started as an experiment two years ago in 375 villages, and has currently grown to 4,584 villages.

Decent Life was first initiated in 2019 when the president charged the Ministry of Social Solidarity with developing Egypt’s poorest 1,000 villages.

In December 2020, President El-Sisi decided to expand the initiative to 4,500 villages within the framework of Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy: Vision 2030.

He also added that the first phase, which was launched on Thursday during the conference, will include many projects including infrastructure projects and schools as well as modern houses.

Mostafa Madbouly added that EGP 1.4 billion (just over $89 million) will allocated to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the Decent Life project.

Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of Decent Life Initiative Aya Omar said during the conference that the initiative received EGP 5.5 billion as donations to the projects from the private sector.

During the conference, the World Bank Group's Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations and Partnerships Mahmoud Mohieldin participated in a recorded video praising the Decent Life initiative.

“The UN considers this initiative as one of the best practices to apply the programs of the sustained developments in the world,” Mohieldin said, adding that UN made this judgement based on international standards like fighting poverty and gender equality.

More to follow ...