August 28th, 2002

  Dears Sons and Daughters…

I always feel immense pleasure whenever I am among you, the youth of Egypt, on whom we pin all hope in the future. We are looking forward with you and through you to a better world where the values of right, freedom and justice prevail… a world based on what I always advocate…and in every field…the necessity of maintaining the value of tolerance, respecting the freedom of opinion, creative democratic dialogue and the rights of man.

All these values have constituted the march of the human civilization at all times, and they were defended by all religions.

Yes…my happiness in being among you is unequalled. With you, I feel we race against time in a flowing national enthusiasm to reach together the coming future where Egypt possesses its will, formulates its glory by the hands of her sons and proceeds its progress to broader prospects of development and construction.

It may be a good coincidence, in my view, to meet today to talk about important roles played by the Egyptian youth concerning the population problem, with the eyes of the world directed to Johannesburg where heads of state and government and representatives of world agencies and non-governmental organisations meet to discuss the development problems, including that of over-population and other important issues such as poverty fighting and environment preservation.

This world forum in Johannesburg may draw the attention of the entire world to the sustainable development issue and the right of human beings in development; that means their right in a dignified life at present and in a life where security and welfare will prevail in future.

If the goal of the sustainable development is the increase of man’s productive abilities, improving his standard of living and his constant welfare in future, this means that man and the extent of his scientific and civilizational progress is the pivot of the huge developments that our world witnesses today.

Therefore, it is taken for granted in the world of today that all tracks of development must start from the human development…That is the optimum investment in human beings

My sons and daughters

If we agree that expanding the range of chances provided to human beings, especially the youth, and enabling them to fulfill their creative capacities and abilities;them, the real criterion , in my view, of the success of nations in realizing sustainable development is the extent of their ability in providing and insuring the rights of man.

Here I want to stress that the perception of the rights of man is not limited to his right in getting the basic commodities and services of clothing, housing and sustenance as well as his political and social rights. But it extends further to include his right of acquiring various kinds of knowledge and sciences.

Moreover, his right in expression, creation and development his creative abilities, and first and foremost his genuine right guaranteed by all heavenly religions and human constitutions is man's right in freedom and dignity. On the other hand, if we agreed that sustainable development is only a means for the fulfillment of the human beings’ welfare and their enjoyment of all man’s rights, there must be also agreement on an important fact, that development is directly affected by the population problem.

For the rising rates of the population growth and lack of attention to the population consideration represent undoubtedly a pressure on the development ambitions and a basic hurdle on the road of the development drive. The Egyptian experience in dealing with the problem of the increasing growth of population proved that the solution of this problem is not an impossible issue. However, our real ambition for raising the standard of living of the Egyptian family and realizing a fair portion of welfare necessitate that we have to perceive a solution for the population problem, not only as a means for family planning but also as a way for development and prosperity to our society as well as realization of a proper standard of living for every citizen and every family in Egypt.

Egypt has paid full attention to this issue and the policies of the following governments responded to the basic rights of the Egyptian man. Attention was given, in the first place, to the youth as deemed the core of development and future. Efforts have not been limited to certain field, they were directed to develop sanitary services for the poor, upgrading and increasing numbers of hospitals, specialized centers, and health welfare centers in villages as well as providing medical necessities, and health insurance umbrella to cover a large number of citizens. For we believe that public health is the sound approach for a people of sound body, sound thought, and mature mind, capable of taking up the message of civilization, which was undertaken by his forefathers since the dawn of history.

As for education, it has become a national cause to which the state has shown all attention, provided all facilities for setting up thousands of schools, upgraded educational services, modernized curricula, introduced the state-of-the-art technology in all educational installations and increased the number of universities, institutes, scientific research centers and specialized academies.

With regard to all fields of culture, arts and creation, they got unprecedented support from the state as Egypt’s real wealth emanates from the culture of its people and the fact that life in Egypt prospers by her sons’ creations of fine arts and ever-growing intellectual heritage maintained by generations who add new pages everyday to the annals of our deep-seated civilization; therefore, museums and creation centers have become a part of the society development plan. The public library has become a main component of the Egyptian villages, towns and cities; starting from the classroom library then the village library and up to the concerted efforts of reviving the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

The state’s plan also aimed at extending health and social services to women, and the childhood issue has become a cornerstone in the society building. Then the on-going efforts for reform have reached the village. These efforts made in this field were not confined to the development plans, but they were supported by all necessary legislations to deepen the sound concepts of the rights of children and women.

We set up national councils for childhood and women that became a central part of the institutional set-up of the state.

The Media has responded with support to all these efforts by increasing awareness in the society to the importance of the development cause, changing misconceptions and improving the society's outlook to the nature of women’s participation in the society causes.

The march of construction durated two decades, but it still encounters the hurdle that races all efforts and drains up all the available resources. The increasing population growth, in spite of all efforts exerted by the state, remains the first obstacle on the way of realizing all our aspirations in a life of dignity and welfare to our people.

Every newborn on the land of Egypt every 30 seconds means a horrible and rapid population increase that our natural resources or productive energies can not keep up pace with.

There is a real danger threatening all the efforts we exert for the development of our country in the fields of economy, health care, education and culture, and even in the fields of building the human being who is hopefully to undertake the future responsibility.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The solution of the population problem is not any more confined to the Ministry of Health and Population. It has become the responsibility of the entire society, and the overall development issues have become basically connected to the population issue. All the problems we face today like squat areas, illiteracy and unemployment have been derived from the overpopulation problem that poses pressure on natural resources, national income and the individual's share in this income.

The proper scientific handling of the population issue in our country is the key to development and the core of all issues. Without serious handling to the population problem, all our efforts will be deadlocked, unfruitful and wasted. We need at this stage a brave confrontation with the problem in which the main task of outlining its optimum volume will be performed by the youth, as the new family maker and the national decision maker.

The youth’s participation is needed in the awareness campaigns that highlights the importance of controlling the population growth for the sake of the Egyptian citizen. The youth’s participation in the illiteracy-fighting campaigns and their adoption to the call for widening the base of educating females, especially in the countryside, is of paramount importance. It is high time for concepts to be changed, and our vision to the population problem not to be reduced to be only a family planning issue. The small family concept is no more outlined as just a better life is all we need. It is a must for all of us to understand fully that the small family is our sole means towards the dignified life we aspire for.

    It has become an imperative necessity for all efforts to be concerted to face this problem decisively. We believe that we will not help our development plans to bear fruits without a pause at the population problem, not only by treatment but also by the awareness and realization of all society to its risks and dimensions. That is why I seize the opportunity of this meeting with the youth of Egypt to call upon them all to bear their responsibilities towards the future of this country by dealing with the population issue with full awareness and to be voices for the future calling for real awakening of the society towards that danger standing between us and the welfare of our society.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

    The youth is the leader of the future that plans his way for tomorrow and bears the responsibility of Egypt’s progress and the welfare of its people. This will be only realized with proper perception to the problems and the serious treatment with them, away from stereotype and useless solutions. It will be also realized through full participation among various standards of ages and population rates, with the youth at the forefront to face the most dangerous problem in our life; that is the conversion of what is quantitative to what is qualitative and placement of Egypt in its proper position internationally, its distinguished status regionally, and its superior stature nationally.

    Let be our efforts unified and our wills resolved towards the better future and the stable life that make us all happy, where suffering from limited chances disappears and well-proportioned formula is maintained between the possibilities and needs. This is my message to the youth on this occasion. We see in the youth the hope of the present, the image of the future and the ability of restoring the balance between what is possible and what is required, what is available and what is aspired, between the present and the future, hope and action; between Egypt which we want it to be and its problems that we endeavour to put an end to them.

    May Allah guide us all, bless our efforts and fulfill our goals.