Egypt

World Bank Committe

IES Francisco de Quevedo
Combating Income Inequality to Achieve 2030 Poverty Reduction Goals

Due to its close relationship with the development of a country in all its fields, income
inequality has become nowadays a growing global problem. Income inequality could be
defined as the contrast among rich and poor people between and within countries, and it leads
to an increase in poverty and corruption that generates social unrest and crime, and a
reduction in the countries growth. Income inequality in Egypt remains low according to
international standards with a Gini index around 34%, as well as compared to other Middle
East and North African countries and countries with similar income levels such as Guatemala,
China and Georgia, that have greater inequality (Verme 64). As in most countries, the real
difference in the income level can be found between urban and rural areas with a 22% poverty
rate in cities compared to 28% in rural areas although in some of the poorest villages this rate
can rise to approximately 82%, according to the World Bank Egypt Inequality Book. Egypt
believes we have to address this problem, and Egypt wants to take measures to fight poverty
in these villages by reducing income inequality among rural and urban areas.

Egypt’s income distribution has been relatively uniform since 1959 although the
poverty rate is high in urban and rural areas with approximately 25% of people living in
poverty, and extremely high in some villages where 82% of people are poor, so the
government started to intervene in the past two decades (Verme 128). The Egyptian
Constitution includes four articles for poverty eradication based on appropriate social
protection, real and economic growth and equality between men and women. These
measurements have not reduced poverty and inequality much, and the Egyptian government
still has a lot to do. Currently the Egyptian government is collaborating with the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), to empower women by reducing the gap
between genders in many different fields such as education. Increasing the participation rate
of women in the labor force to the men’s level would increase the GDP by 34%, according to
the data given from USAID in Egypt, so it is an essential work for the country’s growth. Income
inequality is not a big problem in Egypt but in other countries the huge gap in income levels
prohibits some people from having equal opportunities, and society marginalizes them.

Egypt believes income inequality among countries creates total control of developed
countries over poor non-developed and developing countries, not allowing the second group
any means to achieve sustainable social and economic growth. Egypt is part of several
institutions involved in economic development such as the United Nations (UN), the World
Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the African Union, and the Arab
Monetary fund, and has collaborated with international groups such as USAID to solve income
inequality. Egypt has also provided a secretariat to the Development Partners Group, which is
a body of different countries that contribute to development assistance, to support the
group’s actions. The government contributes to these organizations because the growth of
poor countries is also a benefit for more developed ones in many different fields such as trade,
natural resources and the fulfillment of human rights. International support is key in the
growth of a country and the improvement of life conditions of the people living in it, and can
be achieved by cooperating with organizations to support marginalized members of society
and a system based on equality. Egypt encourages countries to find solutions to these
problems.

The recommendations that Egypt proposes include empowering women by reducing

gender inequalities and providing women aid to create businesses, as well as investing more
money in proper education and social affairs. Governments should give economic incentives to
women starting potentially successful companies not only in cities but also in rural areas
where increasing the income level is needed the most, until the labor force rate of women is
approximately the same as men. Another recommendation is based on changing the education
system and basic services making them accessible to everyone and improving the quality of
those services. The funds needed to achieve these two projects would come from a low
amount of benefits of taxes from other industries, that will increase by 1.5% percent. Another
important factor that the international community should consider is giving economic support
to countries who can’t afford to produce these changes on their own, due to a lack of
resources or the huge national debt they have. We all expect to have a whole and happy life in
the future, but the poorest people can’t get out of poverty without help, and it is time we stop
ignoring these problems because we all deserve the right to live.
Works cited

Egypt-Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. United Nations,

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/10738egypt.pdf.
Accessed 9 Dec. 2017.

“Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.” USAID Egypt. Last updated on November 07,
2017, https://www.usaid.gov/egypt/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment.
Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

“UNDP and the UN System.” The UNDP in Egypt.

http://www.eg.undp.org/content/egypt/en/home/operations/undp_un.html.
Accessed 9 Dec. 2017.

Verme, Paolo. Egypt inequality book. World Bank,

http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/egypt-inequality-book.pdf.