Egypt launches program to fortify subsidized bread against iron deficiency
The government launched on Monday a national program against iron deficiency that will fortify subsidized bread in a program led by the Supply Ministry in collaboration with the Health Ministry and with support from the World Food Program (WFP).
Food insecurity and malnutrition are on the rise in Egypt, according to a United Nations report released last year which noted that 28.3 percent of women aged 15 to 49 suffer from anemia nationwide.
The new program aims to address health issues linked to nutrient deficiencies, particularly iron, according to a statement from the Supply Ministry.
A source in the Supply Ministry told Mada Masr that the fortified bread — enhanced with iron and folic acid — will be distributed in 13 governorates with the highest anemia rates, as identified by a Health Ministry survey.
Hussein al-Boudi, head of the Mills Division, told Mada Masr that the Supply Ministry began distributing iron and folic acid rations to supply mills last August, along with specialized equipment to mix vitamins with flour. Each ton of flour is set to incorporate 200 grams of iron, but mills have yet to receive official instructions to begin adding it to subsidized bread flour.
Bread and oil are the most widely consumed commodities in Egypt, former Supply Ministry advisor Nomani Nasr told Mada Masr, making them key targets for such interventions.
The WFP previously supported a similar bread fortification initiative in Egypt from 2008 to 2014 and ran another program between 2010 and 2016 to enrich subsidized oil with vitamins D and A, aimed at improving iron absorption.
Around two thirds of Egypt's population — or nearly 70 million people — are eligible for the bread subsidy program, which guarantees qualified households the price of a daily quota of staple loaves at around LE0.20 each.
The cost-per-loaf was hiked by 300 percent last year, as the government pares back expenditure on subsidies in line with structural adjustments recommended by the International Monetary Fund.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mada
03-06-2025
- Mada
One remaining Egypt office for asylum applicants as UN refugee agency reduces services amid funding crisis
The United Nations refugee agency announced it will soon reduce the number of locations where it accepts asylum applications, closing the service at offices in both Zamalek and Alexandria citing a lack of funding. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will now only accept asylum applications at its main headquarters in October 6 City, which is also the only office in the capital for refugees and asylum seekers to access any of the agency's services. The asylum registration process was already slow before the closures, as the agency struggles to accommodate the number of applications it receives, particularly from Sudanese who were displaced by the war and other foreign nationals rushing to gain official refugee status in the face of the government's push to regularize the status of refugees and migrants in Egypt. People fleeing their home countries must first apply for asylum before gaining full refugee status, a process often marked by long waiting times that put those seeking safety in Egypt at risk, with consequences as serious as deportation in some instances, Sudanese asylum seekers previously told Mada Masr. UNHCR has decided to limit the number of offices where it offers registration services due to budget cuts amid a global decline in funding for humanitarian services, the agency's Egypt office spokesperson Christine Beshay told Mada Masr. It will therefore halt registration services at its Alexandria branch starting June 15, she explained, after earlier decisions to close its Zamalek branch, and cut the number of agency staff and services offered. While the Alexandria branch will remain open and provide other services, all asylum application appointments originally scheduled after mid-June in Alexandria have been relocated to the UNHCR's main headquarters in October 6 City, she explained. The agency will also move all the services it provided at its Zamalek office to the main headquarters, Beshay told Mada Masr last week, explaining that the decision was made 'as part of our effort to save costs rather than use up our funds.' The agency was forced to drastically reduce its services provided to over 958,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, as the United States and other funders cut external, humanitarian and developmental aid, causing a major funding deficit. A UNHCR statement in March noted that the agency received less than half of its funding goal last year, while another report noted it has been struggling to raise funds this year as well. With declining resources, the agency has also reduced its staff, causing a major impact on its ability to provide its services in a timely manner, with long waiting lists now facing asylum applicants or refugees who wish to close their files and return home, Beshay explained. The process for gaining asylum through UNHCR was already slow before the reduction of services, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese asylum seekers travelling to register at the agency since the war began in Sudan. A push from the government last year for all refugees and migrants in Egypt to regularize their status has also caused a spike in the number of people applying to the agency. Without refugee status, asylum seekers in Egypt are not necessarily safe, even when they have applied for their cases to be reviewed. In the waiting period between applying for asylum and their asylum interview, many Sudanese nationals have been deported by police because they their only proof of application was a paper slip with their interview appointment, a document police may not always recognize because 'it looks like a paper that anyone can make,' as Sudanese asylum seekers previously explained to Mada Masr. An agency statement issued last week also acknowledged the increasing number of Syrian refugees in Egypt wishing to close their files with the agency and return to their country since the fall of the Assad regime. Although UNHCR is unable to provide any financial assistance to the returnees amid the funding crisis, it is working with partners to find alternative ways to provide assistance to those returning to Syria, the statement added. The funding and staff deficit have also led UNHCR in recent months to for refugees and suspend all medical services it provides except for emergency life-saving procedures.
Al-Ahram Weekly
17-05-2025
- Al-Ahram Weekly
115 Palestinians killed in 24 hours as Israel launches new attacks in Gaza - War on Gaza
At least 115 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours as Israel escalates its airstrikes on Gaza, launching "Operation Gideon's Chariots" and intensifying its genocidal campaign in the war-battered territory. The recent bombardment has devastated civilian areas, including the deaths of a grandfather and his two grandchildren, who were killed while attempting to evacuate Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported. Several others were injured when Israeli forces targeted tents housing displaced families in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis on Saturday morning, according to Al Jazeera reporters on the ground. Israeli military vehicles have advanced to the southeast of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, shielded by heavy covering fire, Al Jazeera reported, citing local Palestinian media. Israeli artillery has also targeted the Abu Holi, Abu al-Ajin, and al-Jafarawi areas east of Deir el-Balah, with a series of large explosions reported in the al-Qarara area of Khan Younis in the south, which had been struck by airstrikes earlier that morning. The sharp escalation is part of 'the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war's objectives,' the Israeli army said in a statement on Telegram, in Arabic. It also comes amid a deepening humanitarian crisis, with Israel's blockade of Gaza entering its third month, preventing vital aid from reaching the strip and exacerbating shortages of food, medicine, and basic supplies. Israeli attacks have targeted all of Gaza, with particular focus on the north, and hospitals have also been repeatedly struck. A spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Jazeera that Gaza's hospitals are unable to cope with the number of critically wounded. He said operating rooms were at capacity and warned Israeli forces were deliberately targeting hospitals throughout the Palestinian territory. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety, despite the relentless airstrikes. Meanwhile, growing international calls for a ceasefire and lifting the blockade have been met with silence. As Israeli attacks escalate, Gaza's Health Ministry reported that at least 370 Palestinians have been killed since Sunday, with the majority of casualties occurring in the latter part of the week. The toll has been particularly deadly in recent days, with medical sources confirming the deaths of 143 people on Thursday and 100 on Friday, most of them women and children. Gaza's Health Ministry now reports that 2,985 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on 18 March, unilaterally ending a two-month ceasefire. This brings the total death toll to 53,119. However, the Gaza Government Media Office's updated toll now stands at more than 61,700, as it includes thousands still trapped under rubble and presumed dead. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Mada
15-05-2025
- Mada
UN refugee agency shrinks cash assistance program amid funding crisis
Citing funding shortfall, the United Nations refugee agency in Egypt announced this week it would suspend all assessment interviews for refugees applying for financial support from the organization. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is among the scores of humanitarian organizations and projects, in Egypt and beyond, affected by the United States's foreign aid cuts. The cuts have trickled down to impact the availability of services provided to millions of beneficiaries in Egypt, including hundreds of thousands of refugees. 'The agency's funding crisis extended into its cash assistance program, which was shrunk,' Christine Beshay, UNHCR external relations officer in Egypt, told Mada Masr. Eligible families currently receive LE1,100-LE1,200 in assistance per month, depending on the size of their family, Beshay explained. She said the cash benefits can be used to pay for rent or food but cannot cover a family's total expenditure. Though the UN agency doesn't intend to suspend the cash assistance program altogether, cutbacks will likely mean fewer people can benefit from it, she added, and will eventually affect the amount received by each person. Cash assistance has already been suspended for a number of beneficiaries, Beshay confirmed. Any applicants who have recently been granted refugee status are immediately placed on the waiting list for cash assistance assessment interviews. 'We are unfortunately unable to assist new beneficiaries given the long waiting list, it has to be a very urgent case to receive an exception,' she noted. She noted that there are currently thousands of families on the program's waiting list, adding that 'without additional funding, a bigger issue will arise.' In its attempt to cut costs, the agency has stopped working with a third-party organization that used to conduct vulnerability assessments for cash assistance applicants, relying instead on different types of case referrals, she continued. In March, UNHCR's funding crisis also led to the suspension of the medical services it supported for the almost 1 million registered refugees in the country, with the exception of life-saving care, halting the provision of cancer treatments, heart surgery and medication for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, for nearly 200,000 beneficiaries. This crisis follows US President Donald Trump's decision in January to freeze US international aid for 90 days and terminate thousands of US Agency for International Development (USAID) projects, affecting thousands of humanitarian aid and development programs across the globe. Apart from the shockwaves caused by Trump's decisions, global humanitarian funding has been decreasing across the board, the agency previously told Mada Masr, with many donors cutting their contributions. When announcing the suspension of its medical services, UNHCR noted that it had planned to raise $135 million in funding last year to support its services in Egypt throughout 2025, but received less than half of that amount. The agency's latest factsheet also shows it has only raised 16 percent of the targeted funding for this year so far. Some of the most vulnerable people in Egypt rely on UN support, including Sudanese refugees who were displaced north by the war in their country. Egypt has absorbed over 1.5 million Sudanese refugees since the war began in April 2023, including those registered by the UNHCR. However, the country has since become increasingly hostile to refugees, with Egyptian officials repeatedly stating that the government cannot continue to provide services to refugees and foreign 'guests' indefinitely. A new bill on refugee affairs currently making its way through the legislature would hand many of the functions currently performed by the UN over to the government, including the discretion to grant refugee status. It will also codify prohibitions on certain rights and freedoms for registered refugees.
