| As part of their assistance to poverty alleviation efforts, The World Bank partnered with Government of Egypt (GOE) to pave the way for a new bright future ahead of the country’s working children through a project “Preventing Child Labor” supported by Japanese Social Development Fund. The project advanced Egypt’s pioneering efforts in tackling child labor issues by implanting the policy dimension to it while challenging the role of formal education and social safety nets. It established an integrated development model for reintegrating working children in the education system and developed measures for preventing school drop outs. The results were underscored by a solid partnership between government and non government organizations, and setting up of a monitoring and evaluation system to track the progress of returnees to school and capture the situation of child labor nationwide. The project implementing agency, National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), effectively brought together 19 NGOs amongst other local and regional partners. The project was considered a regional best practice on effective prevention of child labor. Observing Achievements and Challenges
To mark the project achievements, Egypt hosted a workshop titled “A Future without Child Labor: Policy Options and Economic Costs.” The workshop was presided over by the First Lady, HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak and attended by Ministers of International Cooperation, Education, Health, Social Solidarity, Agriculture, Manpower, and Local Administration. In attendance were also 6 Governors from the project governorates, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, representatives of UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral donors, NGOs and representatives of Arab Governments including Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Sudan.  |  | 
| The First Lady HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, Country Director, NCCM's Ambassador Khattab, and Japanese Ambassador to Egypt. |
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The workshop was a joint effort of National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (the implementing agency), MENA Human Development Group (MNSHD), Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships Vice Presidency –Trust Fund Operations, and World Bank Institute- Global Development Learning Network. Among the keynote speakers accompanying the First Lady were: Mr. Philippe H. Le Houerou, Vice President, Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships (CFP), H. E. Mr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, World Bank Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti. The workshop aimed at: (i) presenting outputs, outcomes and lessons of the child labor prevention program in Egypt; and (ii) drawing on Egypt’s experience, discuss education and social assistance policy and program options that Egypt and other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries could consider in addressing child labor. The workshop provided a strategic opportunity to deliver a message to the nation, especially the policy makers, on the costs of child labor. Egypt’s First Lady HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak reiterated in her inaugural speech: “child labor is not the way to fight poverty and improve living conditions for the working children’s families but rather it depletes our human capital, one of our most valuable national resources”. With 2.7 million child laborers in Egypt, the outcry among civil society reached policy makers and the workshop revitalized the national dialogue on accountability, transparency and equity in Education, Social Welfare, Health Care, Agriculture and Legal Practices. On behalf of the Bank and adding to the First Lady’s remarks, Emmanuel Mbi, World Bank Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti said in his remarks on the occasion: “I am pleased to see that from the World Bank side we were able to contribute effectively to this significant initiative and I am more proud to know that this experience will be of relevance to our work in many other countries across the world.” Recognizing effectiveness of JSDF program in reaching out to the poorest and most vulnerable groups, H. E. Mr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt commented: “we always target to change the actual plight of suffering children. In cooperation with our bilateral and multilateral partners, political leaders and CSOs, we always underline the need of pragmatic approaches and not preaching.” “The workshop has been a great conclusion for the successfully completed Prevention of Child Labor Project; it was the umbrella under which all stakeholders met to discuss the lessons learned and to collectively agree on the next steps and follow-ups. This participatory practice was only made possible by the ownership and commitment of the project’s various stakeholders,” said Roberta Gatti, Social Protection Sector Manager and Lead Economist, MNSHD. Sharing Knowledge
During the workshop, the First Lady launched "Digital Knowledge Sourcebook”, which was prepared with the help of the Global Development Learning Network housed at the WBI. The Digital Sourcebook comprises videos of project sites with firsthand account of achievement and challenges by the beneficiaries and stakeholders, monitoring and evaluation tools, training manual for practitioners, and emerging policy recommendations for the line ministers. (can be accessed through http://info.worldbank.org/etools/jsdfegypt/index.html)
“NCCM is delighted to share this web-based knowledge sourcebook as a contribution to the national, regional and international efforts in addressing child labor. This will keep reminding us of the lessons learnt and to follow up on the commitments that we will make at this workshop,” said H. E. Ambassador Moushira Khattab, NCCM Secretary General.  | | The First Lady HE. Mrs. Suzzanne Mubarak and Ministers of Int'l cooperation, Education, Health, Social Solidarity, Agriculture, Manpower, Local Development. |
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