A total of 2.25 million families who are beneficiaries of the conditional Takaful and Karama cash transfer programmes have so far received a total of EGP 23.921 billion, according to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The agency released a statement on the programmes on Wednesday to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Nearly 89 percent of the programmes’ beneficiaries are women, CAPMAS added.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on 17 October.

The Takaful (“Solidarity”) and Karama (“Dignity”) programmes were launched in 2015 to support impoverished families with school-aged children, the elderly and people with special needs, mainly in Upper Egypt.

Earlier this week, Egypt announced it aims to reduce poverty by half by 2020 and eliminate it by 2030, as part of its sustainable development plan.

Egypt's poverty rate rose to 27.8 percent in 2015, compared to 25.2 percent in 2010/11, CAPMAS has said.