Egypt

You are here: Our projects > Where we work > Egypt

CONTEXT
Egypt holds a central location in the Middle East and Arab countries. It represents a meeting point of the North and South and of Africa and Asia. According to Human Development Report 2007-2008, the population is estimated around 72,8 millions.

Egypt is ruled by the National Democratic Party representing the majority & is generally considered to be stable.

Egyptian economy relies heavily on tourism revenues. Today, the tourism sector is hardly suffering of the instability in the Middle East, affecting the economy as a whole. Few European organizations are present due to complex and heavy governmental requests needed for any direct intervention. Yet, the loss of income of the tourism sector increase the economic tension, notably for vulnerable people. 

DISABILITY IN EGYPT
There is no efficient national disability registration system in Egypt. There is a discrepancy in the definition, categorization and classification of disability. There is no standardization for the screening tools and methods. Accordingly, there is a great variation of the prevalence rates reached by different studies.

The estimated prevalence was 0.3% in the 1979 census, 1.52% in the 1987 health profile, 11% in a study conducted by the Institute of Polio in one governorate in 1988, 0.46% in the 1994 census, 2.5% in a study conducted by NCCM in three governorates, 5.7% in a study conducted by ICS, AHED and UNICEF in 1996 and 3.4% (8% including mild visual disabilities- using glasses) in a study conducted by DHS using a national sample in 2000.

It is generally adopted that the prevalence is approximately 10% for all disabilities (including mild), 5% for significantly clear disabilities and 2.5% for rather severe disabilities. This means that there are at least 3-4 million disabled people who need some sort of rehabilitation interventions in Egypt.

The great majority of the community has a negative attitude towards disability. Many still believe it is something to hide and be ashamed of. Generally speaking, disability is seen as a direct result of an impairment. It is considered to be essentially a permanent condition. Though it is known that it can be improved by medical interventions and rehabilitation, it is certainly not seen as something that can change as a result of dynamic interaction of different factors. Environmental and social factors are seldom seen as having important contribution to the disabling situation. People usually look at disabled people either as poor persons deserving charity and care or miraculously strong achieving the impossible. They can hardly consider them as regular capable citizens having their own strengths and weaknesses, rights and duties and certainly do not see them as a kind of variation in the human nature.

BACKGROUND
Since 1987, our work in Egypt has focused on supporting local organizations. Two major factors determined our choice of intervention approach in Egypt: the existence of a structured civil society and the existence of competent know-how in the field of rehabilitation at national level.

In 1987, the first rehabilitation programme in support of children with learning difficulties and their families was set up with Caritas. Community workers and volunteers were trained to provide support to families and to run day centres, which were meeting places for the families and places of learning and development for the children.

From 1992-1994, this programme was run in partnership with the Caritas Seti Centre (centre for children and young adults with learning difficulties). These actions have now been extended into other regions in Egypt and are run autonomously by Caritas Seti.

From 2004 to end of 2006, the following projects were implemented:

• With Caritas Egypt – Leprosy branch, which coordinates the National Programme against Leprosy. We focused, via a 3-year project, on health education, the establishment of 3 referral centres for surgery (one in Upper Egypt, one in Delta and one in Alexandria), and training in physiotherapy for the clinics’ health care providers.
• With Caritas Seti Centre. Our collaboration has been reoriented towards vocational training for young people with learning difficulties. A three-year training curriculum has ended in December 2006.
• With Assiut burns centre: Reinforcement of the burns program in Upper Egypt.  
  

ACTIVITIES

• Reinforcement of the awareness and the rehabilitation services for burned people in Upper Egypt, with prevention, training and referral activities. A project that will last till end of 2009. 
• A project to support to self advocacy for rights and equal opportunities of people with disabilities in upper Egypt

PARTNERS

• Assiut Burns Centre

TEAM
The team is composed of two local staff.

CONTACTS
Tel/fax: 00 202 23 78 42 82
E-mail: ahkabesh@hi-me.org