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Egypt MAPS Workshop with IFs

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures

Over the past few decades, Egypt has realized major improvements in human development, including expanding access to education, reducing the burden of communicable diseases, and increasing life expectancy. Today, Egypt is one of the largest economies in the Arab world and home to one of the fastest growing middle classes in the Middle East and North Africa region. This growth has created its own challenges, typical of developing and growing countries. For instance, an expanding middle class will have higher expectations for public service delivery and a more educated population will expect better jobs. Further, these challenges are compounded in Egypt by a number of factors: economic growth slowed after the social unrest beginning in 2011; high levels of both unemployment and informality persist; the population is still relatively young and growing; and the ability of the government to provide services is constrained by low levels of capacity and transparency.