FEPS Organizes a Seminar entitled "Small Family for a Better Life"
Edited:Farida Mohamed
Second year-Political Sciences-French Section

A spirit of joy spread all among the attendees, as everyone highly love and appreciate this holy month, and they felt as if they were one big family gathering at El-Iftar table in a friendly manner and with familiarity.

Under the slogan "With awareness, Egypt is changing for the better," and as part of the implementation of the social awareness Initiative for community development, the Strategic Forum for Development and Social Peace Association, in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, convened a seminar titled "Small Family for a Better Life." The event took place on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 12:00 PM in the Sawiris Hall at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, under the patronage of Dr. Nevine El-Qabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, Professor Dr. Mohamed El-Khosht, President of Cairo University, and under the supervision of Professor Dr. Hanan Mohamed Ali, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University.

 The conference commence with the recitation of Quranic verses by the student Mohamed Ahmed from the fourth year, then starts the Republican Salute to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

This will be followed by welcoming remarks by Dr. Hanan Mohamed Ali to the attendees and speakers:

 1. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Sami Abdel-Sadek, Vice President of Cairo University.

2. Journalist Dr. Samia Abu El Nasr, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram and Secretary of the Strategic Forum, General Coordinator of the Awareness Program for the Strategic Forum Association.

3. Major General Magdi Shehata, Former Assistant Minister of Defense and Member of the Board of Directors of the Strategic Forum.

4. Prof. Dr. Mayssa Shoukry, Former Head of the National Population Council.

5. Prof. Dr. Heba Nassar, Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science.

6. Prof. Dr. Amr Hassan, Advisor to the Minister of Health and Population and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology).

7. Major General Dr. Ezzat El-Shishini, Former Advisor to the Demographic Center.

 Dr. Hanan Mohamed Ali emphasizes that the Awareness program represents a cultural revolution in many areas, such as early marriage and female genital mutilation, and most importantly, population growth. She mentions that overpopulation burdens the state, depleting its resources and hindering development efforts. To achieve economic prosperity, the economic growth rate must exceed the population growth rate. She highlights the Egyptian Vision 2030 as a pivotal point for comprehensive development in economic, environmental, and social fields, with strategic goals focused on quality of life, standard of living, and poverty eradication through controlling population growth. Despite, we celebrate the decline in the population growth rate by 46 percentage point to reach 1.4%, in addition to the decline in the birth rate in some governorates, and the decline in the fertility rate, which indicates the success of the population policy.

 Then, journalist Dr. Samia Abu El Nasr started to state the main goal of the conference which is changing societal concepts such as "al-Azwa" (large families), deminishing women's role in their families, and the idea of dividing individual income among five children versus two children when she explained by saying “do your math”, and calculate it wisely. She asserted the responsibility of adults as they influence the behaviors and personalities of children. She states that when the population grows beyond economic growth rates, it leads to problems like poverty, illiteracy, slums, unemployment, street children phenomenon, and early marriage, which hinders women's rights and health and perpetuate chronic poverty. She affirms that all divine religions have encouraged family planning. She concludes that the only solution to confront fifth-generation wars, which focus on rumors,  societal and familial disintegration, is the continuous societal awareness and a sense of public responsibility. While expressing her gratefulness to Dr. Nevine El-Qabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, for her continuous efforts in this field, she concluded her speech by assuring the role of Egyptian youth in facing challenges and changing their country for the better.

 As part of awareness-raising efforts, the film "Two is Enough," produced by the Strategic Forum, was screened. It illustrates the governement’s efforts and policies in collaboration with all relevant parties to address the population growth issue and promote family planning through awareness campaigns under the slogan "Awareness = Life." The short film aims to convey the message that the satisfaction of having only two children, is the optimal solution for your country and your children’s future.

 Then Dr. Heba Nassar followed, adressing the importance of this issue from a scientific and economic perspective. She referred to the history of the problem since the Industrial Revolution and Karl Marx's theory of basic needs, which entail providing every individual with a minimum of shelter, food, and clothing. She also mentioned the Human Development Theory, which categorizes countries based on development indicators, and highlights the flaw of economic growth in countries where economic growth occurs without genuine human development.

She stressed on the importance of focusing on the quality of human development, which has been addressed through Sustainable Development Goals that concentrate on various fields beyond just economic development.

She further underscored the importance of achieving individual development and discussed the demographic gift phenomenon, where a decrease in mortality rates and birth rates results in a concentration of the population age group from 14 to 30 years, which is the demographic youth  that supports the rest of the community. Egypt and some other countries were on the edge of achieving this phenomenon, but due to political instabilities in 2010-2011, the birth rate increased significantly. However, the country’s efforts continue in the geographical redistribution, implementing infrastructure projects, new cities, and expanding agricultural areas. She ended her remarks by emphasizing the role of youth and their conviction and awareness to address this issue.

 Then the word was passed to Dr. Mayssa, who mentioned the role of youth in spreading accurate awareness to others. She emphasized that the Egyptian family is the nucleus of the country and must be established and maintained on preplanned and organized foundations. Family planning is the main instance of a society and it begins with financial planning and family planning, to avoid divorce and family disintegration. She explained that there are many ministerial programs such as "First Year of Marriage" along with the Awareness Program, to understand the foundations of a healthy and integrated family life without violence in communication, whether physical, verbal, or economic, which ensures a better future for children.

The problems hindering the healthy family entity and social development include illiteracy, neglect of women's health and education, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. Youth solidarity and continuous education help combat negative old cultural traditions.

 Then Dr. Amr began by explaining that the problem of population growth is not just a problem of space and numbers, but also a problem of resources, based on the principle of proportionality. Population growth consumes an individual's share of allocated resources. The problem of population exceeding the state's capacity is analyzed through understanding the quantity, quality, congestion, indebtedness, and these problems are interrelated and their solutions are interconnected. Therefore, we must utilize Egypt's wealth, which exists on the ground, in its youth, by planning for families and life steps.

 Afterwards, General Staff Officer Magdy Shahata delivered his speech about the comprehensive strength of thecountry, which is its population, which also can be seen as a weakness or strength point. It becomes a strength if utilized in science, health, and culture for human development. He then emphasized the external and internal challenges facing Egypt, including addressing the issue of population growth. Internal stability in Egypt ensures stability for the entire Arab region, and to achieve this, it is necessary to support youth with societal awareness, education, and skills. A righteous citizen means a righteous family, which means a righteous society.

Before the end of the conference, a film titled "Her marriage before 18 waists her rights" was presented, produced by the Strategic Forum, emphasizing the rights of girls and the legal age for marriage. It stipulates that a girl must have mental, emotional, and physical maturity to be eligible for marriage, in order to protect her rights and shield her from any harm. Retrogressive beliefs inherited within a patriarchal society result in various health and legal problems.

 Lastly, Dr. Ezzat El-Shishini concluded the conference, explaining with numbers the magnitude of the population problem. Egypt is the first country in the Arab world in terms of population, the third-largest country in Africa, and ranked 14th globally. He also highlighted the urgent importance of avoiding future repercussions, as the country has been facing this problem since the 1950s. Issues like unemployment and price raises result largely from overpopulation, representing a burden on the state. The state seeks to manage human resources and confront new populations through population strategies to reduce childbirth, but their results are limited. He stressed on the necessity of addressing the affected and vulnerable group to this problem to a greater extent, on a deeper scale, and with out-of-the-box thinking.