This operation has been modified as per Budget revision 12 (see below).

The country programme will concentrate on providing two kinds of support: technical assistance to strengthen institutional capacity, and small-scale demonstrations of best-practice models in food-for-education and food-for-assets activities.

Areas of focus will include pro-poor resource allocation and improved management practices. Institutional strengthening and knowledge transfer will support a smooth phase-out of WFP food-based activities by the end of the country programme in 2011.

Any continued need for food assistance will be accommodated under the strengthened Government of Egypt food-based safety net programmes.

The intended outcomes of the country programme are: 

• strengthened government capacity to reform safety net programmes, launch national nutrition strategies and prepare for and respond to emergencies, through updated food security and vulnerability information and training (WFP Strategic Objective 5);
• reduced gender disparity in access to education, and increased access to pre-school education (WFP Strategic Objective 4);
• improved capacity of children to concentrate and assimilate information, through the relief of short-term hunger (WFP Strategic Objective 4);
• improved livelihoods for vulnerable communities through empowerment and physical and human assets creation (WFP Strategic Objective 2); 
• reduced levels of micronutrient deficiencies, especially of iron and folic acid, through food fortification (WFP Strategic Objective 3).

 The country programme is based on the experiences and lessons learned from the preceding country programme 10142.0, aiming to support Egypt’s national Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (2004) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (2007 2011), which foresees collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and other bilateral development partners.

Its objectives are consistent with WFP’s Strategic Plan 2006 2009 (WFP/EB.A/2005/5-A/Rev.1) and respond to the five areas of focus proposed in the Enabling Development Policy document (WFP/EB.A/99/4-A) and in WFP’s Enhanced Commitments to Women (WFP/EB.3/2002).

It is expected that multilateral resources will be available at approximately US$8.0 million (US$1.6 million a year for five years), which will cover 20,904 mt of food needs for 80,150 beneficiaries. However, WFP will seek additional funding beyond regular pledges and contributions to meet the additional CP requirements of US$44.1 million, which would be used to reach 396,000 beneficiaries with direct food support, and indirectly assist the neediest segments of the population through enhanced government safety-net programmes, facilitating a smooth phase-out of WFP food-aid assistance by 2011.