El-Sisi made the comments during the launch of the ‘National Project to Develop the Egyptian Family’ at the country's New Administrative Capital.

The president said that Egyptians sought change during the 2011 uprising due to real circumstances that negatively impacted the living conditions of citizens.

"People took to the streets in 2011 due to a state of societal dissatisfaction. Egyptians [at the time] were not happy or satisfied, but without being aware of the real reasons behind this," El-Sisi added.

The president said this state of dissatisfaction resulted from the inefficiency of services provided to citizens in several sectors, including education and health, "But instead of recognising the poor performance of the [employees], we made the state the adversary."

The Egyptian state today is changing these conditions, the president said, citing the country’s ongoing national development projects.

President El-Sisi also reiterated the state's keenness on preserving human rights, while calling on citizens to be aware of the magnitude of the challenges facing the country.

“I have not prevented citizens from speaking. On the contrary, I want them to speak, but on condition that they are aware of the [situation] of the country before talking to people… and repeating words without sufficient knowledge," he added.

The state's conditions date back to the 1960s or 50s, El-Sisi underscored, noting that he was aware of these issues when he ran for president in 2014.

"But [the population] increased by 14 million in seven years. Does the state’s income go in line with the population growth rate?" he said, stressing that the population increase is undermining the state's ability to achieve growth.

The president noted that the challenges besetting the state strengthen his resolve to work hard for the sake of Egypt.

El-Sisi called for rallying the state’s efforts to achieve development to combat poverty and ignorance and increase awareness, knowledge, progress and prosperity.

El-Sisi also asserted the importance of developing not only the Egyptian family, but the Egyptian state, adding that real stability lies in achieving societal satisfaction.

The president expressed his desire to develop education and health services by establishing high quality universities, schools and hospitals, with the aim of preparing "distinguished" graduates who can be part of the job market.

El-Sisi said some 700,000 students graduate annually, but the labor markets are not able to accommodate all of them.