UN-MPED STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EGYPT’S NATIONAL STRUCTURAL REFORM PROGRAMME (NSRP) 2021-2024

Y.E Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development,

Dear colleagues both from the Ministry and from the UN,

The UN family in Egypt is proud to commence this strategic partnership with the Government on implementation of Egypt’s National Structural Reform Programme (NSRP) 2021-24.

We enter today into a partnership between the entire UN—both resident and non-resident entities—and the Government on a flagship initiative important to the future of Egypt.

I want to start by thanking Dr. Hala El Said for the guidance and support provided since the start of our dialogue on the NSRP. I also want to express gratitude to Dr. Nada Massoud and the Ministry team for working with the UN to concretize our collaboration in the form of the declaration of intent that we sign today.

I would like to make three main points this afternoon.

First, Egypt’s initial wave of reforms back in 2016 helped lay a solid foundation for the SDGs, and now the NSRP holds great potential to accelerate progress towards them.  

As you all know, the Egyptian economy showed resilience during the pandemic, posting a positive growth rate in 2020, contrary to contractions across both North Africa and the Arab States.[1] Prior to the pandemic, Egypt also saw significant progress towards the SDGs. This was detailed in the well-received 2021 Voluntary National Review of SDG progress presented to the global High-Level Political Forum.

These impressive gains have been however threatened by the spillover effects from the conflict in Ukraine. Here in Egypt, among other impacts, increased food prices, risk of capital outflows, and new limits on fiscal space pose new challenges to the country’s sustainable development pathway.

The timely and comprehensive response of the government to the immediate impact of the Ukraine crisis, combined with the second wave of structural reforms build on Egypt’s past accomplishments and serve to further strengthen its economic resilience long term.

This includes through its important focus on three key economic sectors: Agriculture, Industry, and ICT. The NSRP’s comprehensive approach also emphasizes the enabling pillars critical for sustainable economic development long term: the business environment, labor market, technical and vocational education, financial inclusion, governance efficiency, and human capital development.

Unleashing the potential of private sector can help Egypt further recover from the impacts of COVID-19, cushion the effects of the ongoing geopolitical crisis, and—above all—accelerate progress towards the SDGs.

Second, this strategic collaboration will help harness the full potential of the NSRP, including especially in the direction of inclusiveness and sustainability.

The collaboration that we commence today focuses on six entry points:

1. Forecasting the potential implications of the reform on key SDGs;

2. Developing a high-frequency monitoring system to measure the impact of reform;

3. Reviewing selected NSRP policy measures and quantitative targets against specific focus on inclusiveness and sustainability;

4. Facilitating effective multi-stakeholder partnerships and consultative processes;

5. Enhancing awareness of the implementation status of reforms; and

6. Identifying UN technical assistance and capacity development support that can help fast-track implementation.

The UN and Ministry of Planning and Economic Development will jointly work towards identifying specific and time-bound deliverables in these six areas. This will include a joint implementation and monitoring plan.

Finally, I would like to emphasize that this partnership represents the collective commitment of the full UN system.

The declaration of intent will help the UN system (both resident and non-resident) to quickly deliver demand-driven and coherent support aligned with key Government priorities. In doing so, we will galvanize the global, regional, and national resources and expertise of the full UN system to support implementation.

We aim to convene quickly our technical agencies who will jointly deliver on the promise of our partnership today. 

We will also use the UN’s convening power to bring together the spectrum of development partners to find common entry points for collective NSRP support. These types of coherent and efficient development partnerships are ever more important given the challenges we face today.

Let me conclude by saying that the entire UN family, we are collectively committed to this important initiative and to the development aspirations of the Government of Egypt.

I look forward to our joint efforts to ensure that these structural reforms help deliver on the promise of the SDGs, especially for those most in need in Egypt.

I thank you.

[1] Growth estimates from new UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (2022) for 2020: Egypt 2.5%; North Africa: -4.5%; Arab States: -6%.