"We are suffering from a crisis in increasing fertility rates in the wake of the January 2011 revolution, given the decline of family planning services," said Population Minister Hala Youssef.
"The reproduction rate reached 3.5 children per woman in 2014," Youssef added.
Youssef gave a speech Monday on the second day of the Social Responsibility Conference where she discussed a national population strategy to overcome the challenges of overpopulation in relation to manpower and economic growth rates.
The plan aims to secure the right of every child to education and services.
The state is responsible for raising awareness of the seriousness of population growth and is committed to the integration of the population component in all development projects with the participation of NGOs and the private sector, said Youssef.
The strategy is based on five elements: education, the family, youth, media and the child, apart from the state's role in promoting civil society activities, the minister mentioned.
The minister said civil society organizations have an important role in monitoring and evaluating activities and their impact on Egyptian society.
Youssef added the ministry plans to form a committee which will coordinate with charity organizations to establish small and micro-projects.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
