limited. PRIME also did not have any effects on the capacities of implementing or participating rural finance institutions, or change their internal policies, regulations and loan conditions. Building on these findings, the PPE report recommends that IFAD should support the expansion of national and subnational governorate technical capacities and strategic partnerships of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt. In addition, it is advised that IFAD and the Government address and adaptively manage design weaknesses and erroneous project assumptions as early as they arise during implementation, and consistently with project design objectives. The Arab Republic of Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East and North Africa region, with a population of 105 million as of February 2022. Agriculture remains a principal source of livelihood for 57 per cent of the population, employing close to 30 per cent of labour, and 55 per cent in Upper Egypt. Access report [here]
Music school gives underprivileged youth in Cairo a chance to succeed*
In the Al-Darb Al-Ahmar district of Historic Cairo, the House of Art and Culture is surrounded by dozens of small workshops that are mainly dependent on child labour. Aiming to help the young in this unprivileged area to have a better future, the DAR opened the Darab Ahmar Art School (DAAS) in 2010, a non-profit project that requires neither fees, education qualifications, nor social prerequisites for boys and girls aged 12 to 18 to empower them to have alternative job opportunities other than manual labour. Some 300 students have graduated since the inception of the DAAS, and a good number of them have joined music bands performing in hotels of resort cities or worked for famous singers. Amira Elsebaai, executive manager of the DAR, revealed that it used to be difficult to convince parents to send their children to a music school. However, after being invited to the children’s performances, the parents changed their views. Elsebaai explained that students can study for two years in the school based on their levels, majoring in one of the various musical instruments, including drums, brass instruments, oud, accordions and many others. *www.dailynewsegypt.com
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