Cairo, March 4, 2014

Grassroots Assistance

Japan Supports the Maternal and Child Health Care in Rural Villages in Upper Egypt

-The Government of Japan provides the People of Qena Governorate with a Mobile Clinic-

On Tuesday, March 4th, 2014, Mr. Toshiro Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, and Mrs. Hoda El Awary, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Rural Women Development Association in Qena, signed a grant assistance contract for Japanese Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Projects with the attendance of Dr. Heba Handoussa, Managing Director of the Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID), and Dr. Nihad Gohar, Programme Manager of UN WOMEN.

This grant assistance amounting to US$48,148 is extended by the Government of Japan for the purpose of purchasing a mobile clinic which is planned to serve the people of 6 villages in the center of Qous, Qena, which are all amongst the list of “The Thousand Poorest Villages” that the Egyptian Government announced in 2006. Qena Governorate has a total of 59 villages of them, which are characterized by a high rate of illiteracy, unemployment and mortality, especially among pregnant women and mothers.

This is also a part of the ENID project, a five-year initiative to develop viable and sustainable development and employment opportunities in South Upper Egypt which started in 2012 as a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) project under the umbrella of Egypt’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. This project will also be implemented in close partnership with UN WOMEN.

At the ceremony, the Ambassador said that women’s participation and empowerment are on the top of Japan’s ODA policy as stated by Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and expressed his hope that this mobile clinic will help improve the health services for the people of Qena, particularly women.

The grant is extended under the Japanese Government’s Assistance Scheme for Grassroots and Human Security Projects, which gives support to Non-profitable Organizations and NGOs. This scheme was launched in Egypt in 1994, and around 150 projects have been implemented to date, totaling about US$ 7 million. In particular, the flexibility and timely manner of the scheme has been greatly and widely appreciated.