Decent Life reshapes Sohag gov. with LE 2B utility projects

CAIRO - 18 March 2026: Egypt's Sohag Governorate is witnessing a historic leap in the implementation of drinking water and sanitation projects under the national Decent Life initiative.

The Egyptian presidential initiative "Decent Life" (Haya Karima) has significantly transformed the infrastructure of the Sohag governorate, with reports indicating that the first phase of projects involved investments totaling LE 45 billion.

New Drinking Water Stations to Meet Growing Demand The drinking water sector alone has seen investments totaling LE 540 million.

Major highlights include: 

- Saqultah Water Station Built with a capacity of 51000 cubic meters per day at a cost of LE 250 million this facility serves approximately 400000 citizens.

- Dar El Salam Projects: The Arab Al Atiyat station was completed for LE45 million alongside a 35 million Pound network expansion serving 15000 residents.

- Northern Sohag: Upgrades In Tama networks were expanded for LE 25 million and new transmission lines worth LE 20 million were installed to serve 90000 citizens.

- Local Improvements: Enhancements reached Shatoura Village Al Kawthar District and various transmission lines ensuring clean water for over 100000 additional residents.

A staggering LE1.151 billion has been allocated to sanitation projects to improve environmental conditions and public health Key milestones include:

- Strategic Rural Coverage Major sanitation systems were launched in Bani Helal Girga and Beit Khallaf with the latter costing LE215 million to serve 23000 citizens.

- Beit Allam Project A massive LE 255 million project was implemented to provide modern sanitation services to 25000 residents.

- Advanced Lift Stations New stations were inaugurated in Awlad Hamza El Monshat and Saqultah with costs reaching LE110 million to serve over 66000 people.

One of the most prominent infrastructure achievements is the expansion of the Tahta Sewage Treatment Plant costing LE500 million. This project serves 240000 citizens and utilizes advanced final disposal lines ensuring high efficiency in wastewater treatment and protecting the local ecosystem.

These investments represent a fundamental shift in the infrastructure of Upper Egypt reflecting the government dedication to reaching deprived areas and providing a dignified life for every citizen in Sohag

“Decent Life” is an initiative endorsed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, with the aim of improving the quality of life in the poorest rural communities within the framework of Egypt Vision 2030. And in light of the belief that the real development occurs at the governorate level and not in a centralized manner and that each governorate has a different competitive advantage and has different resources.

The initiative addresses multi-dimensional poverty and unemployment rates, through improving the economic, social and environmental standard of families in poor villages, enabling them to obtain all basic services and providing job opportunities to support the independence of citizens.

What to Know About Decent Life Initiative

The initiative is planned to take place in 4,500 villages dispersed among 20 governorates. It was launched in January 2019, and is being executed over three phases. The first phase, which is still being finalized, targets villages where poverty rates exceed 70 percent; the second is for villages where the range is between 70 percent and 50 percent; and, the third will consist of villages where the percentage is below 50 percent.

Accomplishments

By the end of 2022, 333 civil service complexes have been introduced, as well as 330 agricultural ones; 217,247 electricity poles; 1,149 roads; 256 water pumping stations; 1,547 water treatment plants; 1,101 healthcare units; 221 veterinary units; 353 ambulance service units; 213 family centers; 31 nurseries; 62 libraries; and 990 youth centers. That is in addition to digging 249 water wells, renovating 1,486 housing units, and building 3,828 new ones.

Human Development

Equally, there were initiatives tailored to enhance the quality of life of residents such as operating 701 medical convoys, and holding 98 awareness lectures for residents and 215 social dialogue sessions.

With regard to education, 834 new schools were built, and 1,519 others were renovated. Further, the illiteracy of 74,091 adults has been eliminated.

To reduce unemployment, the residents of targeted villages were hired at plants manufacturing interlock tiles; others processing palm products; and milk collection and processing centers. Also, workshops were held to teach, mainly women, hand weaving on looms, sewing, hand weaving of carpets and rugs, and wood carving.

On the front of economic empowerment, Decent Life Foundation and civil society joined forces to fund 1,200 enterprises with a total of LE45 million. The foundation also signed a cooperation protocol with Misr El Kheir, a prominent charity organization, to pay the debts of 2,000, and empower them socially and economically.

Women Empowerment

Since there are three million families financially supported by women, microfinancing programmes were created to help them make a living so that the amount of funding hit LE1.4 billion in 2021 disbursed to 220,000 women.

On another level, Decent Life initiative helped identify scores of families eligible to join the monetary subsidies programme Takaful wa Karama so as the number of beneficiaries recorded 22 million, with women composing 76 percent and an annual budget of LE3.4 billion.

Charity

There are also several charity campaigns that are "Wasl El Kheir" that distributed staple food boxes among 1.5 million citizens; a similar one that is called "Ketf Fi Ketf and reached four million citizens; "Back To School" that paid the tuition fees of 40,000 students; "Education is Life" that taught 24,000 students and teachers some digital skills; the awareness cultural campaign "Enta Al Hayah" that reached 52,000 individuals; "Ydoum El Farh" that funded the marriage of 800 couples; "Satr wa Afya" that provided 320,000 citizens with various assistive devices as well as home appliances and amenities; and "Kheirak Sabek" targeting to distribute five million hot meals on rural dwellers.

Upper Egypt

The Upper Egyptian governorates in specific acquired 96.8 percent of allocations. That helped finish 97.3 percent of wastewater infrastructure, 90.2 percent of healthcare units; 48.8 percent of schools; and 85.2 percent of roads.

Moreover, 247 irrigation projects were accomplished; 2,480 kilometers of canals were lined at a cost of LE8.6 billion; drip irrigation was substituted for surface irrigation in 60,000 feddans; agricultural wastewater canals rehabilitated; 4,179 industrial establishments lying near waterways overhauled; and New Dairut Barrages which serve 1.6 million feddans were built.