Report supports individual participation in development proj
Egypt, Economics, 8/22/2002

The 6th Human Development report issued by the National Planning Institute in cooperation with the UN Development Project (UNDP) on participation in local development, calls for supporting individuals' participation in development projects, along with boosting the role of vocational and trade unions, and women's role in local and economic development.

ÊÊÊ The head of the report's team, Sa'ad Allam said that the report tackles all aspects of the issue of public participation in development and the relation between the civil society's participation and development programs.

ÊÊÊ "The report offers a conception and definition for this kind of participation which includes giving individuals the opportunity to participate in development choices, the burdens and the fruits," he told a daily paper.

ÊÊÊ "That is why the report was concerned with civil society, its organizations, NGOs, vocational and trade unions and cooperatives, along with the requirements and obstacles facing this participation," Allam added.

ÊÊÊ "The report also tackled the private sector's participation, whether in education, health or media. Other issues were the direct contact with development in women's participation, together with experiments such as the Sherouq Program for Rural Development," he maintained.

ÊÊÊ Allam noted that the report recorded a number of important indicators, at the top of which was the unemployment rate at 9 per cent and illiteracy which is 34.4 per cent. The rate of women's illiteracy is 45 per cent.

ÊÊÊ "The report also called for giving citizens the chance to select projects and the means of development which are suitable for them. It also discussed a number of important issues, such as the role syndicates and unions can play in local development," he told the paper.

ÊÊÊ "The report pointed out that studies conducted on women's contribution in economic development does not express the real role women assume, such as her contribution in agriculture, agricultural manufacture, marketing livestock production and weaving clothes.

ÊÊÊ Housework, in which she doesn't get salary even though it is productive work for the benefit of the family is not considered," Allam said adding that this is called an unpaid productive role.

ÊÊÊ "These studies proved that the more women contributed to the development process, the more impact development will have on society," he said adding that the report noted the importance of working on securing services that help to promote women's economic and social status and position, together with enhancing women's political participation in rural areas.

ÊÊÊ "It has also been noticed that there has been a drop in trade union membership, due to the world economic variables, and the early pension system in some companies," Allam said.

ÊÊÊ "This phenomenon was of concern for the International Labor Organization (ILO), due to the spread in many countries.

ÊÊÊ The ILO study attributed this phenomenon to the economic changes taking place within the globalization era.

ÊÊÊ Many countries throughout the world have pursued the policy of privatizing the public sector and the larger industries which the state had monopolized for decades.

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