The government appears to have made population control a national priority, after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi named it as the top challenge for development after terrorism last week. The Health Ministry announced that it is targeting a population of 112 mn by 2030 by curtailing the birth rate,says the Egypt Independent. Egypt currently has a new birth every 5 seconds and is on pace to have a population of 128 mn by 2030. Social Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali noted that the larger the number of children a family has, the more likely it is to be poor, with data showing that 65% of all households with nine or more people in them are below the poverty rate. The Social Solidarity Ministry will provide EGP 100 mn to 239 charity organizations working in the fields of family planning and to bring down birth rates in 10 governorates, Wali said, according to Al Mal.

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