An awareness seminar on the presidential initiative "A decent life" in cooperation between the Faculties of Medicine and Nursing at Ain Shams University

The Faculties of Medicine and Nursing at Ain Shams University organized an awareness seminar on the presidential initiative, a decent life, under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ayman Saleh, Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research, Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Anwar, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams, and Prof. Dr. Sahar Moussa, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams.

And supervision of Prof. Dr. Osama Mansour, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Prof. Dr. Heba Allah Saeed, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Hala Sweed, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Community Service and Environmental Development, Prof. Dr. Hiam Refaat, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Nursing for Community Service and Environmental Development, and Prof. Dr. Siham Gerges, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Nursing for Postgraduate Studies and Research, and in coordination with Dr. Muhammad Saad Afifi, Vice President of the Medical Sector for the Decent Life Initiative, and Dr. Laila Zidan, field coordinator of the Decent Life Initiative.

Prof. Dr. Sahar Moussa, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams, and Prof. Dr. Hala Sweed, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Community Service and Environmental Development, opened the seminar.

Where she explained Prof. Dr. Sahar Musa said that the cooperation between the Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Medicine came with the aim of educating students about the importance of the initiative and its objectives. She advised all students of the Faculties of Medicine and Nursing to participate in the initiative, expressing her pride in the initiative of a decent life, and that whoever wishes to participate should not hesitate.

Prof. Dr. Hala Suwaid pointed out the purpose of this symposium and the importance of participating in this important presidential initiative in order to enhance the role of youth in society.

Prof. Dr. Hayam Refaat referred to the role of Ain Shams University in participating in the Decent Life initiative through development convoys, which are concerned with the humanities, literacy and awareness sector, as well as the medical sector, speaking about the development convoy in Al-Asmarat neighborhood and the resulting development in many fields, and she dealt with the goals of the adult education center at the university, and that it is not only interested in eradicating illiteracy, but also helps in learning crafts and directing them to the labor market to achieve a better life for the family.

Dr. Muhammad Saad Afifi expressed his happiness for the university's opportunity to participate in the "Decent Life" initiative.

It is a comprehensive development project that concerns all villages and hamlets within Upper Egypt and the neediest villages. He referred to the beginning of the idea of a decent life with the presidential declaration to qualify young people for leadership, and youth initiatives were undertaken to propose the idea of a decent life as a development project that includes all the villages of Egypt, as previously all services were concentrated in Cairo and the major cities in When there were villages that did not reach the Internet or even a mobile phone.

He added that an inventory of the neediest villages socially and in all fields was made, and accordingly, a comprehensive development project was thought of in accordance with the sustainable development of Egypt's Vision 2030. The initiative started with 51 centers in 14 governorates, nearly 18 million citizens, and the villages included education and development of schools and a sanitation network. And telephones and the development of people’s lives in villages, as well as decent housing and a project for work, earning and the ability to live, the medical sector, youth enthusiasm in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and universities for comprehensive development convoys and awareness and development campaigns for the self, knowing the essence of the basic problem and through which the optimal, correct and appropriate solution to the problem is known.

Dr. Laila Zidan explained that Egypt after 2013 and its exposure to two revolutions, needed comprehensive development in order to rise, and indeed, the results of the "Decent Life" initiative appeared in 2017 and 2018.

She indicated that it was important for all governorates to feel the developmental role, not only Cairo, but all governorates. The symposium dealt with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s announcement on January 2, 2019, of his participation in the national initiative “A Decent Life”, that initiative that represented a dream for all Egyptians with the aim of improving the quality of life for the most needy groups in all governorates of Egypt, in order to improve the standard of living of more than 58 million citizens of the neediest groups and the building of the Egyptian person by inviting state institutions and civil society organizations. The idea began in the dreams of Egyptian youth to prepare a comprehensive development plan that creates a decent and sustainable life for the neediest groups by conducting field studies, monitoring the needs of families and the neediest villages, inventory of available natural resources and investment opportunities for optimal use.

The national political leadership responded to the youth’s vision by establishing the Decent Life Foundation to absorb youth energies on October 22, 2019, as we seek to change the lives of Egyptians for the better through the “Decent Life” initiative to develop rural Egypt. And speaking of the Egyptian Human Building Initiative, it aspires to advance the intellectual, educational and health level of the rising generations, and to spread culture and human knowledge by returning to the authentic Egyptian identity. The national project “a decent life” aims to eliminate multidimensional poverty, revive the values of shared responsibility, and bridge development gaps between villages, invest in human development and raise the level social, economic and environmental.

Targeting more than half of Egypt’s population with one national project that aims to change lives. The estimated cost required is 800 billion pounds and targets 85% of Egyptian citizens. The targeted centers are 175 centers with a total of 4584 villages. The move was on a large scale and within the framework of integration and unification of efforts between state institutions, private sector institutions and civil society and development partners in Egypt and abroad. The participating entities were civil society organizations, youth volunteers, companies, institutions, businessmen, and development partners everywhere.

The initiative also included several axes, including the axis of lining canals, the axis of road development, the sanitation axis, as well as the drinking water axis and the decent housing axis, as well as the axis of human building, which is the main axis of the initiative, such as schools, libraries and the medical sector. For the first time, 23 civil society institutions participated in the implementation of development projects in the initiative.

There are nine criteria for selecting the target areas, represented in the population census, the percentage of poor people in the centers, the special nature of the targeted areas, the security nature, as well as the illiteracy rate, the average poverty rate, as well as illegal immigration, the percentage of women breadwinners, and the percentage of families deprived of basic services.

The axes of work in the projects are based on the development of education, awareness and culture, lining the canals, repairing roads and sanitation, the axis of drinking water, the axis of human building, and the high-speed internet service for the countryside, and a decent life is the largest development project to eradicate multidimensional poverty.

The pillars characterize the Decent Life initiative as being time-bound, achievable, goal-specific, measurable, and based on available resources, as well as leading to the implementation of the 2030 development plan.

The world's view of Egyptian development projects changed, and the attention of international institutions turned to the Decent Life Project. The Decent Life Initiative was included in international best practices and was the first initiative to accommodate 36,000 youth volunteers.

The initiative has thus attracted the attention of prestigious international institutions such as the European Union in Egypt and United Nations organizations.

As for the medical field - medical and veterinary convoys - the number reached 330 convoys, with a number of 220,179 thousand beneficiaries in the veterinary convoy, 19,468 birds and livestock.

On the sidelines of the symposium, a documentary film was shown about the achievements of a decent life and how to participate in volunteer work with the Decent Life Initiative.

In conclusion, the recommendations that were sponsored by Mr. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi were presented, as Mr. President called 2022 the year of civil society, and as a result, the Decent Life Foundation contributed to the developmental civil work, establishing the entity of the National Alliance for Civil Development Action, which includes 24 civil societies unifies efforts in the National Coalition and distributes them in a way that prevents repeated provision of service to beneficiaries.