Hassan Abdallah: World Food Programme agrees $431 mln, 5-year partnership with Egypt

Egyptian central bank governor Hassan Abdalla has on Friday delivered a speech at the annual session of the Executive Board of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) that entailed the new strategic plan with Egypt for 2023–2028.

WFP’s new country strategic plan (CSP) with Egypt for July 2023 to June 2028 will be at a total cost of $431 million.

Abdallah highlighted Egyptian government’s reform efforts aimed at improving food security and nutrition integration at the national level in collaboration with ministries and government entities.

He further said that the 2023–2028 CSP would focus on supporting the agriculture sector, the fostering of improved financial inclusion and economic empowerment for rural women, improving the self-reliance and income-generating capacity of smallholder farmers, the provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees.

The CSP aligns with Egyptian government’s sustainable development priorities and will operate in synergy with Egypt’s flagship programme Haya Karima (meaning decent life), the central bank governor noted.

Haya Karima is a presidential initiative promoting localised development and an integrated approach to improving the quality of life in 5,000 of the poorest villages and marginalised rural areas.

Abdallah also met with Cindy Hensley McCain, WFP’s Executive Director, on the sidelines of the annual session of the Executive Board in Rome in the presence of Bassam Rady, Egyptian Ambassador to Italy. The meeting witnessed fruitful discussions on the new country partnership as well as WFP’s activities in Egypt especially in areas of fostering of financial inclusion for smallholder farmers and the provision of technical assistance.

For her part, McCain stressed WFP’s keenness to continuing to support Egypt in addressing the unprecedented compounding humanitarian crises in the region.

The new CSP is a reflection of Egypt’s longstanding deep partnership with the WFP, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organisations saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

All the participating delegates at the 2023 annual session of WFP Executive Board have commended Egypt’s humanitarian efforts to host an influx of refugees fleeing the war in Sudan, Rady stated.

Egypt’s new 2023 – 2028 CSP builds on the achievements of the previous CSP for 2018–2023.