Will families with 2 children become the norm in Egypt?
A parliamentary committee is examining draft legislation aimed at curbing Egypt's population growth by encouraging smaller families.
CAIRO — Egypt is considering an incentive plan to curb its population's growth spurt.
The country’s total population in January 2016 was 90 million, according to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). This week, CAPMAS said the figure has reached 92.5 million.
With its economy in crisis, Egypt had already enacted in June a long-term national population strategic plan, a campaign aimed at cutting Egypt’s projected population in 2030 to 110 million instead of 122 million. The plan consists of five main sections, including campaigns for family planning and for empowering women in the labor market, as well as media campaigns to raise social awareness and stress the need to educate youths and teenagers.
Now parliament is examining a proposal for a draft law to facilitate that aim, according to Tariq Tawfiq, rapporteur of the Ministry of Health’s National Council for Population, who spoke Feb. 19 with Al-Monitor.
