Lakhasly

Chapter 3:-

Introduction:

Overpopulation is an urgent global problem appeared in the early twentieth century, and still going on until the present time, indicating an irregular and unplanned increase in the population. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) revealed irrational differences between the number of births and population rates in various regions of the world. These differences are accompanied by unfairness in the distribution of the world resources, where the most fortunate wealth, knowledge and ways of production are concentrated in the hands of a few number of peoples, while the other peoples are suffering from a large increase in population, accompanied by severe and abject poverty.

The population issue, as a concept, refers to the imbalance between

the population on the one hand, and the volume of natural and

capital resources and technical knowledge on the other hand. The

population can be considered a productive force and a means of

exploiting resources meanwhile can also be seen as a consuming

force that represents a pressure on the available resources. So, the

imbalance between the population and the volume of resources

leads to the existence of this issue, with its repercussions, and its

reciprocal relationship with a number of problems; such as poverty,

unemployment, and the low level of services, as well as its negative

effects on foreign trade, the state budget, and savings and

investment rates.

Some of the repercussions of the population growth rate increase can be summarized in the following aspects:
1- The impact of population increase on the electricity sector and the ability to develop it: The increasing population growth affects many sectors, including energy, especially electricity, which has witnessed continuous pressures over the past years to cover citizens' electricity needs.

2- Low family standard of living: The population increase leads to a deficit in public services of all kinds, including the impact on sanitation services in many neighborhoods, and the queues for bread and the struggle to earn basic living.

3- Widespread Unemployment: Increased population leads to a lack of employment opportunities or so-called high unemployment rates as a result of lack of opportunities for everyone.

4- Pressure on state resources to spend on education, health and public transportation: Population density in any country detracts from the individual's share and right to obtain various services; whether education or health. This also includes means of transportation and public utilities; for the citizen, instead of getting a place in a means of transportation, another one shared it with him, as evident in the scenes of traffic congestion.
5- Decrease in wages ratio in the public and private sectors:

As a result of pressure on state resources, wage rates in the public and private sectors decrease and per capita income decreases.

6- Urban creep and erosion of the agricultural patch: The

continuous increase in the population leads to the resort of using agricultural land as residential complexes in a random manner.

7- Increase in crime rates: Crime rates have elevated, as a result of overcrowding and population density, with limited resources compared to overpopulation, which created a state of conflict over those resources.

8- High levels of pollution: The larger the population, the greater

the need for resources, which means that citizens resort to deforestation and dumping large areas of agricultural land, consequently, increasing the proportion of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and decreasing the percentage of oxygen. Environmental impact is also aided by migration from rural areas to industrial urban areas; increasing pollution, overcrowding, and noise.

9- Impact on the per capita share of water: In light of the

growing deficit in water resources against the increase in population, the Egyptian state is striving to reduce the gap between water resources and the rising needs, through water recycling.

10- The effect on country's economy: The rate of population

growth must be proportional to the rate of economic growth, and while the economic situation is low, the rates of population growth must decline.
11- Reducing the capital: The per capita share of the individual in

the state's capital reduces, leading to decrease in productivity and returns, resulting in a decrease in per capita income

12- Food shortage: The insufficient resource available to cover

the abnormal population growth, reduces the productivity of individuals at work, forces the state to import from other countries and increases the economic burden.

13- Expense increase: Costs of raising children, decrease in

individuals' savings rate, the deficiency of their income for their needs, the rising costs of the standard of living, low productivity, and poor development in the sectors of commerce, industry and agriculture, and all of this affecting the general economy.

14- Social Impact: The abnormal increase in population reduces

the chances for a sound standard of living for the individuals, due to the increase in demand for products with a lack of supply. Rarity of raw materials and the lack of efficiency of labor and resources, leads to high prices, the inability to export and dependence on revenues, resulting in a low social level of individuals with an impact indirect to economy.

15- Agricultural Impact: Increasing population growth supports

the idea of converting agricultural lands in favor of logistics services, like hospitals, buildings and schools. Thus reducing the per capita share of the agricultural crop, increase unemployment in this sector, and decrease savings and investment based on the agricultural sector, which is one of the sectors affecting the

economy. 2% -5% of the national income must be invested, if the population

16- Developmental Impact: According to economists' estimates,

grows by 1% annually, which means that the abnormal population
increase reduces the level of saving that the individual or even the state can provide. It also requires increased investments to cover the need of individuals, i.e., overpopulation makes the previous equation unequal and thus negatively affects the economy.

17- Lack of natural resources: The land is known to have limited productivity for food and water, and the large increase in the population increases the demand for these resources, as the increase in the level of human consumption turns the matter to import, for example, Egypt imports wheat from abroad. The lack of resources worldwide may lead to the creation of an environment for international wars and conflicts on natural resources; the most important of which is water, to cover the problem of water poverty, as an example of what is happening between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt and the demographic issue:

The demographic issue in Egypt is caused by the imbalance between the state's population and the available resources and services. This clearly appears in the form of population growth rates that continue to rise, and development rates that are not commensurate with them, and with the rate of decline in the
standard of living. This increase in the population is not the issue; rather it is the proportional relationship between the population and the state's resources. There are many countries that have a dense population and do not suffer from any crises because they have achieved proportionality between their human and material resources.

Some causes of the population problem in Egypt are the increase in the average lifespan of the individual, due to the improvement of the health conditions, leading to an increase in the number of elderly people, and thus an increase in the dependency ratio. Another cause can be society's view of procreation, as the Egyptian society, especially in the socially humble educational and financial circles, has a firm belief related to the increase of offspring and the number of family members for the purpose of forming solitude, ignoring their social and material conditions. There are several reasons resulting from misconceptions, such as the large number of children to create the strong attachment of the husband to the family, the lack of divorce or second marriage, and the increase in children in order to help their families in agricultural work in the countryside, in addition to the wrong religious beliefs of some individuals. Besides, neglecting family planning methods that can help educating people about means of postponing and preventing childbearing, and raise their awareness about the rights of children and the responsibility of raising them.

The reasons for the population increase in Egypt can be summed up as follows:

1- Customs and traditions that support early marriage.

2- Female circumcision.

3- Preference for males.
4- Not using family planning methods.

5- Two children are not enough.

6- The culture of procreation that was formed over a long period of time in Egyptian society, linked to bondage and support.

As a result, the population of Egypt exceeded 100 million, as the first Arab country to reach the stage of population explosion, as a result of low death rates and the stability of high birth rates. The failure of population programs to deal with this issue was attributed to the following:

1- Lack of awareness of the population problem.

2- The spread of illiteracy.

3- Delayed entry of women into the field of work.

4- The decline in the rate of urbanization and industrialization.
A roadmap to treat overpopulation in Egypt:Undoubtedly, the population increase is one of the most prominent files that receive the attention of the political leadership. This interest has been translated in the form of decisions on the ground, through the development of the Population Strategy 2030 to deal with this issue. Following are the steps of the road map according to the strategy to solve the crisis:

1. 
   

   Launching a community dialogue to build popular support for adopting the national population policy.

   
   


2. 
   

   Drawing up a population media policy that governmental and non-governmental media institutions are committed to.

   
   


3. 
   

   Reviewing the institutional framework of the Egyptian spatial program, and setting up a robust mechanism for follow-up and evaluation.

   
   


4. 
   

   Activating the role of governmental and non-governmental institutions in order to put the population problem at the center of attention

   
   


5. 
   

   Allocating the necessary resources to effectively deal with population programs and activities in light of the savings that could be achieved by reducing fertility rates on all areas of services in Egypt.

   
   


6. 
   

   Preparing quantitative targets for population variables, medium and short-term targets that are monitored periodically.

   
   


7. 
   

   Taking into account the estimates of population growth and the number of births when planning the various facilities and services in the country.

   
   

The draft law on positive incentives for the Egyptian family, referred to the Social Solidarity Committee in the House of Representatives, defined the tasks that state institutions can carry out to raise awareness of the population increase, and stressed the need to pay attention to educating women, and organizing training and rehabilitation courses for those who are about to marry.

According to Article 8 of the draft law, the ministries and concerned authorities shall carry out the tasks entrusted to them to stimulate the model family as follows:
1- The Ministry of Health and Population has the task of educating women about the importance of their work, as well as the participation of those who are about to marry in special training courses for family planning before marriage, with the provision of contraceptive methods for free in health units and hospitals, and the implementation of control measures to prevent the leakage of these materials and their use for other purposes.

2- The Ministry of Education and Technical Education should effectively integrate educational materials related to population and maternal and child health care into the school curricula.

3- The Ministry of Higher Education should be integrating a course for university students on population and family planning.

4- The Ministry of Culture promotes and encourages family planning programs through cultural palaces spread across the Republic.

5- The Ministry of Youth and Sports is promoting and encouraging family planning programs and educating young people and raising their awareness of the seriousness of the population problem through youth centers spread throughout the Republic.
6- The Supreme Council for Media Regulation is creating the appropriate atmosphere for the effective participation of media and art personnel with the aim of increasing citizens' awareness of population and family planning programs, as well as the production and broadcasting of direct and indirect programs by the National Media Authority to increase national awareness of population and health care for mothers and children.

7- Obligating the National Population Council and its Executive Council to hold periodic meetings to evaluate programs designed to reduce the population problem in accordance with the National Population and Development Strategy 2015/2030.

Among the proposals that may address the issue of population increase in Egypt are as follows:
Improving family planning services for target women, and in order to achieve this, challenges need to be addressed in presenting these services in all governorates.

Spreading awareness about the importance of regulating reproduction and the number of family members, especially among groups of uneducated women or those with a low cultural level.The necessity of regularizing family planning services, and intensifying them in many places in Upper Egypt, and presenting them in the many areas deprived of service, whose spatial dimension caused this deprivation, in addition to the doctors' reluctance to work in these remote areas.

Increasing the demand for family planning services, by reaching out to the beneficiary woman and convincing her to use a safe method of contraception.

It is necessary to increase the rate of use of family planning methods in all governorates of Egypt.

Reaching, ultimately, areas deprived of family planning services, which are approximately 3,183 areas, with approximately 1,250 health units that do not have a doctor.

Increasing the number of doctors (especially OBGYN) and working to increase the doses of their training and provision of their expertise, especially those assigned new graduates.

• Covering all geographical areas with all the various family planning services, means and tools, throughout the year, especially for remote and slum areas.

• Achieving human development, which means improving human capabilities to reduce the danger of this phenomenon and deal with it wisely, through developing the individuals' knowledge and improving their skills and abilities that contribute to improving the productive field.

• Utilizing the state's available resources in a wise manner that ensures maximum benefit from them; such as exploiting empty lands after reforming it for agriculture and production, desalinating salt water to address the problem of water scarcity, and other actions and effective development plans to keep pace with this increase.Strengthening the role of sustainable development programs that aim to give a push to all aspects; health, economic, social, services, legal and other sectors in a manner that ensures the absorption of this increase to the maximum extent possible.

Activating all means of follow-up, and motivating the targeted women, in a parallel line.

Opening the door to entrepreneurship in order to avoid the social problems that accompany overpopulation and that result mainly from leisure time, the lack of aim for youth, and poverty.

Strengthening the bonds of the relationship between the state, activating the partnership with the private sector, and putting the private sector in the picture more effectively.