CAIRO -
The "Long Live Egypt" fund has returned to the forefront of donation campaigns in recent days in the country, after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the fund to intensify its efforts in facing societal challenges in Egypt against the background of the ongoing economic crisis.
During the past days, the media has intensified calls for donations through celebrities and parliamentarians, and communication sites have witnessed several initiatives to donate to Egyptians abroad.
President El-Sisi met with his advisor for financial affairs, Major General Mohamed Amin, to discuss the fund's situation, and the meeting ended to escalate his efforts in the Egyptian scene, and the donation campaigns did not stop from that day.
An economic researcher - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - called for the need to shift the fund from collecting donations to activating production and development, suggesting that the current campaigns to donate to the fund in order to save it from financial stumbling like other charitable institutions in Egypt.
"Long live Egypt" in 8 years
According to an official statement by the Presidency of the Republic, the total contributions that the Fund has pumped into various sectors and fields at the level of the Republic since its inception until now has exceeded;
The amount of 22 billion pounds (the dollar = 29.65 pounds).
The fund’s activities in the field of urban development and alternative housing cost about 7 billion pounds, while in the field of health care (medical procedures associated with the Corona pandemic, various health initiatives and medical devices in hospitals) they cost about 11 billion pounds, and social protection initiatives cost about one billion and 300 million pounds.
According to the presidential statement, the fund’s contributions to economic empowerment and job creation amounted to about 400 million pounds, to education about 531 million pounds, to the program for gifted people to about 200 million pounds, to the investment sector about 400 million pounds, as well as to intervene in emergencies and natural disasters with an amount of about 400 million pounds. billion pounds.
The official spokesman for the Presidency of the Republic, Ambassador Bassem Rady, stated that the “Long Live Egypt” fund has a vital role since its establishment as an assistant to state agencies in supporting social protection programs and development projects at the level of the Republic, stressing its success in many sectors to improve the standard of living of citizens and improve services.
The “Long Live Egypt” fund set two records in the “Guinness Book of Records” in late 2020, after its success in organizing the two largest caravans in the world to donate poultry and food packages, and distribute them to the poor in Egypt.
strict control
For his part, a spokesman for the Long Live Egypt Fund, Mohamed Mukhtar, explains that the fund has an important mediating role between the shareholder and the target person, according to a clear plan announced and received presidential support, which enhances donors' confidence in the fund in the coming period.
He added, in televised statements, that the monitoring and follow-up mechanism is clear, and there is no number that comes out of the fund except with the approval of President El-Sisi, who personally monitors the fund’s work and gives it attention and care, in addition to the presence of partners in the banking sector, contributing to supporting the fund’s projects, to whom financial and technical reports reach them in every way. What is being accomplished on the ground, which is the real criterion for evaluation and follow-up, and no one can deny it, according to his opinion.
Mukhtar asserts that the fund is keen to open the door to livelihood and a stable source of income for citizens through several initiatives, most notably the "Mastoura" initiative, to support women in micro-enterprises, and "Barr Al-Aman" to protect fishermen from the dangers of the profession.
means of fund recovery
Recent days have witnessed extensive and indirect government propaganda campaigns to collect donations to support the fund and revive its budget through several means, including:
Religious fatwa:
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawky Allam, issued a fatwa in televised statements on Friday, January 20, that it is permissible to donate to the Long Live Egypt Fund among a number of other organizations, stressing that it is permissible to expedite zakat money, even for the next two years, due to these exceptional economic conditions.
The media crowd:
The media crowd, Muhammad Al-Baz, Mustafa Bakri and Ahmed Musa, led an intense media campaign to direct donations towards the fund, but Al-Baz and Bakri announced through their program the donation of a month's salary from their salary.
Celebrities:
It has become remarkable that a number of celebrities and parliamentarians interacted with the donation campaign, which was started by actor Yasser Jalal on January 15, when he revealed that he had donated 3 million pounds to the fund.
The head of the Acting Professions Syndicate in Egypt, the artist Ashraf Zaki, also announced the preparation of a new artwork within the syndicate, whose entire revenue will be to support the fund.
Representatives:
Member of Parliament Hisham Hussein revealed, in a televised intervention, that there is a parliamentary campaign for members of the House of Representatives and Senate to donate a month's salary to the Fund.
Egyptians Abroad:
Amidst a media celebration, Raafat Salib, President of the Egyptians Abroad Union in America, announced the "Support Your Family" initiative, in which he called on Egyptians abroad to transfer $200 to their families through Egyptian banks, in order to collect $2 billion from Egyptians abroad, to stand by Egypt, expecting that The country is successfully passing that current stage.
criticism
On the other hand, economic researcher Ibrahim Al-Taher explains that the fund is part of a governmental economic empire parallel to the state budget represented by private sovereign financial funds, and it is a strong financial arm that the government resorts to in its time of need, but the crisis is currently in the absence of financial tributaries that may finance the fund, in light of The current donation crisis in Egypt.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Taher believes that the fund needs full control and disclosure of all its details, not the total expenditures, while changing its activities in the interest of development by expanding production, export and self-sufficiency of strategic commodities, so that it can be said that it is fit to rely on it in the coming periods. .
In turn, the former parliamentarian and former Speaker of the Parliament of Egyptians Abroad, Mohamed Gamal Heshmat, says, "The current economic situation exceeds the capabilities of an uncontrolled fund, and it is governed by individual perceptions that do not protect against hunger and will not dispense with correcting the entire course (which is an inevitable correction) instead of waiting." The people's handouts will not suffice them to face the current difficult conditions," according to his interview with Al-Jazeera Net.