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35 Years in Egypt
FrontLines - December-January 2009-10
LUXOR, Egypt—The majority of Egypt’s 83 million people live along the fertile banks of the Nile
River, with 17 million in the most crowded Arab city in the world, Cairo.
For three decades, USAID’s work in Egypt was the largest assistance program in the world,
spending more than $28 billion since 1975. The Agency spent $600 million in the country in 2009.
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Specialized social workers at the USAID-funded Family Justice
Centers provide counsel and therapy to families on the local,
neighborhood level. The centers, located throughout the country’s
governorates, are the first level of assistance for families in
crisis, serving as alternatives to Egypt’s family court system.
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Today, the Agency has projects in all 29 governorates.
“USAID’s role in Egypt has really focused on improving the quality of life of the Egyptians on
the governorate level and on the community level,” USAID Egypt Director Hilda Arellano said.
“Egypt is now a middle-income country. The [economic] indicators are very different from when we
started here 30 years ago.”
The private sector has grown as Egypt has had “major foreign and direct investment and vast
growth in the private sector,” Arellano said, including USAID support in “every area of
macroeconomic reform.”
School enrollment is 97 percent. In the 1970s, at the start of USAID involvement, it was about 70
percent for boys and 50 percent for girls. The infant mortality rate dropped from one in five children
to one in 36.
USAID has also spent $2 billion on water and sanitation.
“We’re looking at a very different reality,” Arellano said. “Every one of these changes is because
USAID has had a major, major impact.”
When President Barack Obama addressed the world’s Muslims from Cairo in June, he said: “I am
honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable [academic] institutions
[Al Azhar University and Cairo University]. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition
and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt.”
Future programs in Egypt are planned for workforce development, education, and training
programs aimed at improving opportunities for all Egyptians.
FrontLines writer Analeed Marcus wrote this series of articles following a trip to Egypt in October. All photos by Analeed Marcus.
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