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Egypt seeks to lower fertility rate in Upper Egypt

September 30, 2017 at 2:48 pm

File photo [Image: commons.wikimedia.org | MasterFinally]

Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali said that fertility rate in Upper Egypt is high and the country is working to lower it through awareness programmes.

During a 90-minute TV show, Wali said that there were 1,003,632 Egyptian women in the region under 35-years old who have between one child and three children and they are able to get pregnant for another 10 years.

She stated that this is too much, noting that the fertility rate in Upper Egypt is the highest in the country and revealed plans to lower this rate throughout awareness programmes.

Speaking at Al-Mehwar TV, Wali said the programmes would included training in family planning methods and directing women to become involved in micro projects to lower their fertility rate.

The minister claimed that Egypt’s failure to stabilise the fertility rate had contributed to the country’s declining economy.

She acknowledged that cultural practices have played a role in the rising fertility rate but that these could be addressed through campaigns such as “Enough 2” which seeks to lower the fertility rate.