Page 16 - Issue 63

Vol.1 Issue 63 January 2024Vol.1 Issue 63, May 2024 ElITE

As part of awareness-raising efforts, the film "Two is
Enough," produced by the Strategic Forum, was screened. It
illustrates the governement’s efforts and policies in
collaboration with all relevant parties to address the
population growth issue and promote family planning
through awareness campaigns under the slogan "Awareness
= Life." The short film aims to convey the message that the
satisfaction of having only two children, is the optimal
solution for your country and your children’s future.

Then Dr. Heba Nassar followed, adressing the importance of
this issue from a scientific and economic perspective. She
referred to the history of the problem since the Industrial
Revolution and Karl Marx's theory of basic needs, which
entail providing every individual with a minimum of shelter,
food, and clothing. She also mentioned the Human Then the word was passed to Dr. Mayssa, who
Development Theory, which categorizes countries based on mentioned the role of youth in spreading accurate
development indicators, and highlights the flaw of economic awareness to others. She emphasized that the
growth in countries where economic growth occurs without Egyptian family is the nucleus of the country and
genuine human development. must be established and maintained on preplanned
She stressed on the importance of focusing on the quality of and organized foundations. Family planning is the
human development, which has been addressed through
Sustainable Development Goals that concentrate on various main instance of a society and it begins with financial
fields beyond just economic development. planning and family planning, to avoid divorce and
She further underscored the importance of achieving family disintegration. She explained that there are
individual development and discussed the demographic gift many ministerial programs such as "First Year of
phenomenon, where a decrease in mortality rates and birth Marriage" along with the Awareness Program, to
rates results in a concentration of the population age group understand the foundations of a healthy and
from 14 to 30 years, which is the demographic youth that integrated family life without violence in
supports the rest of the community. Egypt and some other communication, whether physical, verbal, or
countries were on the edge of achieving this phenomenon, economic, which ensures a better future for children.
but due to political instabilities in 2010-2011, the birth rate The problems hindering the healthy family entity and
increased significantly. However, the country’s efforts social development include illiteracy, neglect of
continue in the geographical redistribution, implementing women's health and education, child marriage, and
infrastructure projects, new cities, and expanding agricultural female genital mutilation. Youth solidarity and
areas. She ended her remarks by emphasizing the role of continuous education help combat negative old
youth and their conviction and awareness to address this
issue. cultural traditions.

Afterwards, Dr. Amr began by explaining that the
problem of population growth is not just a problem of
space and numbers, but also a problem of resources,
based on the principle of proportionality. Population
growth consumes an individual's share of allocated
resources. The problem of population exceeding the
state's capacity is analyzed through understanding the
quantity, quality, congestion, indebtedness, and these
problems are interrelated and their solutions are
interconnected. Therefore, we must utilize Egypt's
wealth, which exists on the ground, in its youth, by
planning for families and life steps.

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