Philanthropy for Development

However, although the word philanthropy has been widely used and defined in the western part of the world and although the culture of philanthropy has been profoundly present in the Arab culture, philanthropy does not have an equivalent Arabic word. Nevertheless, according to El Daly, philanthropy can be translated as ‘Al ‘ataa al ijtema’y” or “social giving”. It refers to all kinds of both material and non-material giving that would contribute to the well being of the society.

The following paper will address the philanthropic world in Egypt. It will look at the ingredients of philanthropy in the Egyptian society, including religious and nonreligious giving, the waqf system, voluntary organizations, and the nature of corporate social responsibility in Egypt. The aim of the paper is to explore the philanthropic potentials in Egypt in order to find ways to mobilize its local resources, achieve a satisfying level of social and economic development, and switch the country from one of the first receivers of foreign aid to one of the successful countries in achieving an adequate degree of self sufficiency and autonomy.

Although giving charities in its general sense is one of the most common behaviors rooted in the Egyptian culture, it is significant to scientifically identify the true potential of giving among individual Egyptians. In the first round research, it was difficult to find information on how far Egyptians are keen to pay charity. However, in a recent research conducted by the Center for Development Services on "Philanthropy for Social Development", with a representative sample in 10 governorates in Egypt, 58.3% of the Egyptian households reported that they donate. Only 20% of donors accepted to reveal the amount of their charitable contribution. This portion of the respondents pays an average of L.E 180 per year. The total number of households in Egypt is estimated by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2003 to be 14,507,000 households. Since we know that cash donors represent 58.3% of the total number of households or 8,457,581 households and the average donation is about LE 180 per year, the total money donated should be equal to the following equation: 14,507,00× .583×180 = L.E 1,522,364, 580

Religious giving, manifested in all kinds of zakat and sadaqa, is considered as one of the most basic and important forms of giving in the Egyptian society. It is the religious obligation that should be paid by many segments in the society. It is the only sustainable source of social giving secured by religion to ensure the people's sense of responsibility toward the needy and the poor. The research conducted by the Center for Development Center concentrated on zakat el mal or zakat on monetary possessions, zakat el fitr, which is the zakat to be paid after the month of Ramadan, and the sadaqa, which is the voluntary kind of giving in Islam that has no specific rate or time. The research reported that 43.2% of the Egyptian population pay zakat whereas 45.8% do not pay it, mostly because they don't meet its conditions, which is to own the value of 85 grams of gold for a whole year. Zakat al fitr, on the other hand, is one of the most paid kind of zakat in Egypt constituting 85.4% of Egyptians, mainly because of its small value, which is from 5 to 8 L.E and also because it is obligatory on every person who owns to feed himself and his family for one day after paying the zakat. As for the sadaqa, it is paid by 85.9% of Egyptians, of whom 12% pay it on a regular basis, mainly to beggars in the street. The research results revealed that the total amount of religious giving in Egypt is estimated to be L.E 5,459,332.268.

Volunteerism is considered to be any voluntary act accomplished by the individual with the aim of benefiting a person or a group of people in need without receiving a material reward. According to the results of the research conducted by the Center for Development Services, only a 6.4% of the adult population revealed to have volunteered their time with an average of 2.5 hours per month. This proportion represents a number of 928,448 households in 2004. This makes about 2,321,120 hours of volunteering time per month and 27,853,440 hours per year. Should we consider the value of a voluntary hour with a minimal cost of L.E 2, the overall value of voluntary work in Egypt would be L.E 55,706,880.

During the Ottoman period and until the 1952 revolution, the waqf system in Egypt had significant importance, so that it had profound impacts on both the economic and social life. The waqf system encompassed almost all segments of the Egyptian society to the extent that it was not only the wealthy who were endowing their properties in the form of lands, buildings, money, etc…, but it also stretched to the middle and low income segments of the society since it was originally inspired by religious beliefs and considered as sustainable source of giving or 'Sadaqa Jareya'.

During the era of Muhammad Ali, the awqaf land covered a considerable amount of the land of Egypt, so that it reached one-third of the whole productive land. However, in 1846, in order to increase the taxable land in Egypt which has greatly decreased due to the awqaf system, he issued a decree that prevents endowment. Nonetheless, this decree was not practically applied, and the system continued to be practiced until the mid 20th century .

Under the British occupation, and despite the British attempts to supervise the Egyptian Budget, including the awqaf, Tawfiq Pasha did not agree to put the Ministry of Awqaf under the British control though he accepted to have foreign supervision over the Egyptian finances and administration. He even turned the Ministry of Awqaf into an administration under his own control. In addition, in 1891, he provided people with a full authority to freely endow their lands, which led to the development of new kinds awqafs, the most important of which are the ahli waqf. However, this time has witnessed deteriorating aspects of waqf, which was a result of mismanagement, exploitation, and corruption in the system. For instance, many of the waqf administrators were misusing and abusing the waqf as well as blackmailing the recipients. At the time of the Khedive Abbas II (1892 – 1914), the British continued their pressure to have control over the awqaf. In order to compromise between the two parties, the waqf was put under an autonomous administration, but, at the same time, the Minister of finance had the right to review the account, and submit an annual report to the khedive .

With the growing deterioration of the 'management' of the waqf system, especially with the increase of the Ahli waqf, there became awareness among people in authority, including legists and parliamentarians, of the bad state of the awqaf in Egypt. At that time, many voices were raised to ban the waqf and put an end to it, but these appeals could not stop the system, so that the awqaf land reached 770,000 feddans in 1925. In 1946, however, law number 48 was issued to somehow restrict the act of endowment by making the ahli and khairy waqf as temporary except for mosques. Meanwhile, the foundation of new awqaf started to be restricted. However, the law was not able to liquidate a huge amount of awqaf. For instance, the awqaf owned by King Farouk alone reached more than 100,000 feddans .

After the 1952 revolution, however, and with the socialist approach that the government has adopted to rigidly tight its control over the country and assume its full responsibility over social development, the waqf system started to dramatically be reduced. Law 178 of year 1952 was launched to reduce the maximum feddans that can be privately owned to 200 feddans in 1952, which was minimized only to 50 feddans in 1969. In addition, law 180 of year 1952 liquidated al ahli waqf. Under this political and economic environment, chances to develop new waqf reached its minimum, then totally vanished since the government decided to include all waqf under its bureaucratic system.

According to McChesney, the Islamic waqf had greatly contributed to the decrease of poverty and the increase of education to large segments of the society. However, it also had bad economic effects because of management reasons. Firstly, a large segment of the population were supported by waqf and, in turn, heavily relied on it, which led them to have a lazy attitude toward work, especially in the field of industry which was greatly neglected. Secondly, the endowments' capital had to be supported by wealthy people, which led to the exploitation of poor and weak labors. Another accuse against the waqf is that it tied a large part of the real estate market and prevented it from being effectively used in the national economy.

Despite the negative economic effects that some scholars have mentioned about the waqf system in Egypt, Mohamed Afify, in his study to endowments and the Egyptian economic life in the Ottoman era, argues that the idea that the waqf system had deteriorating economic outcomes is overstated. According to Afify, the economic effects of the stagnant liquidity of the endowed properties because they can not be sold were not negative since these properties did not go out of the economic wealth of the country. In addition, the problem of freezing the endowed properties was solved by introducing the principle of exchange, which opened the door for these properties to enter in the economic row. In addition, the awqaf system had several positive economic effects, including offering a wide range of employment opportunities that absorbed a diverse number of employees starting from pashas to small workers. This is in addition to the selling and buying process of goods produced by the endowed properties which enriched the trade movement of the Egyptian market.

Besides the outcomes of waqf on the economy, the system had substantial effects in promoting the Egyptian social life. Money allocated to charitable purposes where spent on diverse social priorities, at the top of which are mosques, particularly Mecca's shrine. Education was the second priority for which money was spent to help poor scholars. In addition, the waqf system has significantly contributed to the health sector through building hospitals and expanding services provided by them. Money resulted from waqf was also allocated to promote Egypt's infrastructure, including digging canals and building dams. Supporting the unprivileged segments of the society including orphans, elderly, people with special needs to alleviate their poverty and contributing to social and religious occasions like weddings and feasts were also greatly facilitated by the waqf's financial benefits. Finally, at times of war or political instability, supporting the country's army used to acquire a high priority .

According to El Daly, there was a balanced and harmonious partnership between the waqf system, the society and the state. With the sustainable incomes provided by the waqf system, low-priced or free of charge services that are significantly important to the public, including education and health were easily available. Accordingly, through these services, the waqf was fulfilling an important part of the government's responsibilities. This substantial role accomplished by the waqf provided, in turn, a better opportunity for the state to focus its efforts on the country's national security and army. In addition, the waqf system did not undermine or threaten the power and legitimacy of the state. On the contrary, it was in need of a strong, but not intrusive government that allowed it to freely fulfill its social and economic role.

Currently, waqf institutions work under several laws, including law 247 for the year 1953, which was updated with law number 28 for the year 1970, law number 272 for the year 1959, law 44 for the year 1962, and law number 80 for the year 1971. These are the laws that regulate the management and supervision of all kinds of waqfs. According to these laws, the Minister of Awqaf is entitled to distribute the endowed money to any direction without being constrained with the specific fields that the original endowers have decided to allocate their money to. The Ministry of Awqaf is the one that has total supervision over all the awqaf. It also takes 10% of the revenue of awqaf in return of reviewing the waqfs' accounts and another 7.5% in return of its supervision over the waqfs' properties.

As mentioned before, since the mid of the last century, the government started to control the awqaf whereas it did not have the sufficient experience to efficiently manage the waqf and solve its problems. One of the most important results to the government's control over the waqf is that it did not follow the conditions decided by the endowers to distribute the revenues of their waqfs. This prevented the original beneficiaries for whom the waqf was founded from their rights. In addition, the wealthy segments in the society were prevented to contribute to the development of the community which became confined to the hands of the government's inefficient control. Besides, some people abused the loss of awqaf documents and used illegal means to put their hands on endowed properties and own them. Moreover, because of the government's control over the awqaf, the majority of people believed that making an effort to make a change for development is only the role of the government not the society. This belief planted a spirit of helplessness and dependency among Egyptians who started to perceive development as the government's responsibility. Besides all this, under the government's control, most of the endowed properties became neglected and not invested in the right way, which deteriorated their conditions and diminished their values. Finally, lots of the awqaf documents are lost or stolen which led to a serious lack of accurate data and statistics about their size in Egypt.

Social organizations, including the religious one, have been rooted in the Egyptian society since a long time. Both religious and humane impulses were the driving forces behind social efforts in Egypt. It has two complementary reasons. The first one is to help the needy and support them to alleviate their difficult social and economic conditions. The second one has a broader commitment and determination to react against the government's neglect or lack of capacity to meet the people's needs and achieve true development. According to Mahmoud El-Sherif, head of the General Union for Local NGOs in a personal interview on 2 August 2004, the number of NGOs in Egypt has reached 18,600 organizations.

Civil society organizations have a long history in Egypt. According to Samak, in Al Keta' Al Ahli wal Tanmeya, since the 17th and 18th centuries, few number of non-governmental organizations started to be initiated in Egypt in order to protect certain type of crafts, develop new skilled cadres, and provide them with the needed services. However, starting from 1821, NGOs started to be formed in a regular way like for instance, the Greek Charitable Society, Al Ma'arif Society in 1886, the Geographic Society in 1875, the Islamic Charitable Society in 1887, and Al Tawfiq Coptic Society in 1891. Until 1918, the number of NGOs in Egypt did not exceed more than 260 organizations, which had important roles in providing people with health and education services. However, the history of NGOs has passed through several phases starting from the beginning of the 20th century.

The first phase was a dissemination phase that started after 1919 revolution, which mobilized the idea of developing NGOs that serve the community and provide it with important social, economic and political needs. At that time, the first social service schools were founded firstly in Alexandria in 1936, then in Cairo in 1937 .

In 1939, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) was founded with the role of supervising NGOs. At that time, NGOs started to flourish and increase in number and activities. Meanwhile, they started to freely collect donations from diverse segments of the society without any censorship, which began to be imposed with law number 49 for year 1945 that banned the act of collecting donations without a special permission from the Ministry .

The 1952 revolution was accompanied with a significant increase in the government's bureaucracy and control over almost all aspects of the country. In 1956, law number 384 concerned with NGOs was issued to modify the constitutions of these organizations and the establishment of new unions whose role is to coordinate and censor the social services provided by voluntary organizations. This law was a turning point in the relation between the government, NGOs, and the society. At that time, NGOs were put under strict supervision from the part of the government. It was the beginning of an uncomforting phase of mistrust between the two parties .

In 1964, the government came up with the stage of socialist planning and the introduction of the first five-year plan. In this year, law number 32 was issued confining the role of non-governmental organizations only to care and development and totally prohibited them from playing the roles of syndicates. Figures show that the development of NGOs in the sixties was quite low, making 3,198 organizations in 1960 and reaching only 4000 organizations in 1964.

Starting with the mid 1970s, and after the wars that Egypt had undergone, the government started the open door policy and began to reduce its role in holding the social and economic aspects of the country. In addition, by the 1980s, the Egyptian economic crisis started to swell, which introduced a comprehensive program for economic reform based on the dependence on the market, the switch from the public to private sector, and the reduction of the government's role in all areas. As a result to this strategy, a partner that would assist or substitute the government in its social and economic role is definitely needed to be selected. Accordingly, the role of voluntary efforts backed by non-governmental organizations was perceived as substantially important to pursue development. Although this approach needed a legally and politically encouraging environment that would help non-governmental organizations to achieve their developmental role, this trend was not reflected on the national laws which kept on having their supervisory and rather restrictive roles .

Local organizations are currently working under law number 84 of year 2002 for local organizations and foundations. According to the law, any society that has a sustainable form, at least established for a certain period of time, with at least ten members whose aim is to care and work for the community with no financial profits have to be legally approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA). Every organization has to have a written structure signed by its founders. It also has to have an adequate location within the boundaries of Egypt.
According to this law, local organizations can be established to work in any of the fields that aim at promoting and enhancing community development. However, the law forbids the formation of secretive societies. In addition, it prohibits the foundation of any society that has military aspects, threatens the national unity, deviates from the public system and socially allowed codes of ethics, or advocates for the segregation between citizens because of race, gender, color, language, religion or belief. The law also does not allow for any for-profit activity. Moreover, political activities are only confined to the legal political parties according to the party's law.
Within law number 84, local organizations receive governmental services with financial subsidies or exemptions in several ways. This is applied in exempting them from the documentation fees that are to be paid when launching any contract. They are also exempted from any taxes, including for instances, custom taxes imposed on imported machines or in kind gifts or grants taken from foreign donors. In addition, they receive a 25% discount on the transportation fees on any machines transported through the railway. They also enjoy a 50% discount on the electricity and natural gas fees.
In order to increase their financial resources and achieve their developmental goals, voluntary organizations are allowed to conduct income generating activities like providing services, selling products, organize parties, and/or charitable exhibitions. They are also allowed to collect donations. It is prohibited, however, to receive any donations from foreign sources either from individuals or institutions except after taking the permission of the Ministry of Social Affairs. In order to ensure transparency and accountability, each organization has to have an annual budget that documents with details its accounts, clarifying all its incomes and expenses during the year. In case the budget surpasses L.E 20,000, it has to be presented to external financial audits, which, in turn, have to submit an official financial report. In addition, each organization has to put its income in a bank under its officially registered name.
According to law number 84, the Ministry of Social Affair (MOSA) has the authority to dissolve any society in the following cases:

1. Allocating money for purposes that are different from the ones for which it was originally founded.
2. Receiving money from foreign sources without MOSA's permission
3. Making a serious deviation from the law or the general public system
4. Joining, participating, or affiliating to a club, society, organization, or agency outside of Egypt without getting MOSA's permission.
5. Working in any of the forbidden arenas, like for instance having political activities
6. Collecting donations without taking MOSA's permission
In addition, the Minister of Social Affairs has the authority to take stands against any organization including dissolving its general assembly, or totally stopping its activities in case the organization's general assembly do not conduct any meetings for two successive years and if the organization does not modify its system according to the new law.
Some organizations can be distinguished as 'organizations for the public benefit'. This distinction can be gained either at the beginning of establishing the organization or after its foundation through a permission from the President of the Republic. This permission can be taken as a result to a request made either by the organization itself, the Ministry of Social Affairs, or the General Union for Local Organizations and Foundations. The President of the Republic is the one who decides on the privileges gained by these organizations. Meanwhile, they are put under the censorship of the Ministry of Social Affairs, which has the authority to supervise their projects and activities and the degree of their adoption to the present law. In case MOSA discovers major deficiencies made by these organizations that influence the effective accomplishment of their objectives and activities, the Minister has the right to either stop the project temporarily until these mistakes are corrected, completely take the project from the organization, or displacing the organization's administrative board and electing a new one within three months.

The funding problem is one of the most serious obstacles that face civil society organizations in Egypt. As a third sector that contribute heavily in the development process of Egypt, it has to have a sustainable source of funding that covers the expenses of its activities in ways that would sufficiently fulfill its developmental goals. There are three major sources of funding for civil societies; governmental aid, self funding, and foreign aid .

According to law number 84 for year 2002, the ministry of social affairs founded an aid box to financially assist local organizations and foundations. This box has an administrative board whose role is to study all the possible means to increase the box's financial resources, to conduct the needed studies concerned with the financial status of the local organizations, and to develop major strategies to financially support them. The box's resources basically come from the allocated governmental budget to support local societies, donations and grants from external sources, money taken from dissolved organizations, and the additional fees imposed for charitable activities.

There are four major kinds of aids provided by the government to NGOs, namely regular aid, constructive aid, furnishing aid, and exceptional aid. Regular aid is the one committed to be paid on a regular basis by the ministry of social affairs on two basic conditions. The first one is that the society has to be active. This should be proven through the activities accomplished by the organization, the organization's management councils and committees, and the regularity of their meetings. The second condition is that the goal of the organization should be devoted to all segments of the society, not just to its members. The second kind of aid is the constructive aid, which is also based on two conditions. The first is that the society's board members has to be committed to pay half of the construction's expenses while the second is to start the expenses of the construction within a year of receiving the aid. Similar to the construction aid, the ministry provides aid for furnishing the society on the conditions that it contributes only with half of the furnishing expenses, the society has to provide stamped receipts signed by its financial audit, and the aid has to be spent within six months of receiving it. As for the exceptional aid, it can be provided only in urgent conditions in case the organization faces severe shortage in its financial resources, has a debt, or in need to expand its activities and services. This kind of aid is spent only one time for each condition.

There are various means of self-funding on which voluntary organizations depend to generate income. These means are represented in members' subscriptions, donations, collection of money based on a government's official permission, and conducting income generating activities, which is considered as one of the most important mechanisms of self-funding. These activities can be in the form of founding craft workshops and selling their products, establishing educational classes, establishing day care centers, clinics or hospitals, and creating a credit program that allows beneficiaries to start their own businesses with no interest rate or a rate that is less than the banks' rates . NGOs are also allowed to invest part of their incomes. According to Article 59 in Chapter Three of Law 84 of the year 2002, NGOs are permitted to re-invest a portion of their revenues that results from service or productive project in the form of bank deposits, Treasury Bonds and Stocks. The only condition that has been stipulated in is that such a portion should not exceed 50% of the annual net profits, unless otherwise approved by the NGO’s General Assembly.

Self-funding has a significant role to non-governmental organizations for several reasons. Firstly, it provides a source of income that secures the sustainability of the organization and its ability to continue its activities. A second reason is to fill the government's gap in fulfilling basic social and economic needs, and achieve the mission they are basically founded for.

Foreign aid is in kind or financial grants taken from any foreign government or donor agency. According to Samak, there are no figures that specify the amount of foreign aid received by NGOs. However, the biggest amount is taken through the Local Development Agreement and the International Development Agency represented by Ford Foundation, Unicef, the Canadian Agency and the different embassies.

Though it does not clarify the percentage of aid received particularly by NGOs, the following table describes the total amount of foreign aid received by Egypt from 1948 – 2000

ESF: Economic Support Funds
IMET: International Military Education and Training
FMF: Foreign Military Financing

Many international donor agencies are interested in supporting non-governmental organizations to conduct grass-root projects and provide their services to the most unprivileged sectors of the society whose poverty has increased due to the economic reform program maintained by the government. Although the highest percentage of these projects are not sustainable, it provides practitioners of development with significant technical and management skills that help them to continue their efforts in development even after the project terminates. In addition, many of these projects address the poorest of the poor, especially youth and women who are not able to benefit from projects made by the government .

In a survey conducted in 91 societies in four governorates, namely Cairo, Giza, Beni Suef and Sharkeya, to analyze the role of non-governmental organizations, results revealed that the budgets of 30% of the organizations do not exceed L.E 10,000 despite the fact that these organizations work in income generating activities and training, which need sufficient incomes to effectively accomplish its goals. In addition, 53% of the organizations have a budget that range between L.E 10,000 – L.E 50,000 while 15% have a budget over L.E 100,000, which are mostly organizations that work in providing loans and funded by the social fund and international donors. As for the surplus of the organizations' income, 66.2% of the organizations have surplus while 33.8% suffer from deficits. The following graph reflects the above description :

Similarly, in the research conducted by the Center for Development Services, only 52.3% of NGOs accepted to reveal their net revenues for the year 2002. Eighty-eight percent of these organizations reported that their total revenues were less than 100,000 Egyptian pounds while only 2.8% of the sample made revenue that exceeded L.E 1 million in the year 2002.

NGOs are mainly allowed to specialize in seventeen major areas. These include child care and motherhood, family care, social help, care for the elderly, care for people with special needs, cultural, scientific and religious services, family planning, social protection, care for prisoners and their families, friendship among different nations, administrative activities, organization and management, development of local communities, and the foundation of universities and scientific institutions . However, out of the seventeen areas that NGOs can work in, only three areas are absorbing 92% of their activities, namely social development (38%), social help (29.1%), and cultural and scientific services (23.8%).

There are lots of problems that face NGOs in Egypt, the most important of which is the problem of funding. Firstly, NGOs in Egypt suffer from severe shortage in their financial resources. This is due to the minute and insufficient income received either from the contributions made by the local community or the tiny membership fees. One of the reasons behind the low contribution of the community to local NGOs is the lack of awareness among the wealthy segments of the society about the importance of the activities accomplished by NGOs and their effects on the development of the society. A second reason is the lack of trust and credibility, which is a serious problem that characterizes the relationship between the public and these types of organizations. In addition, most of the organizations that are located in Cairo have a much higher share of foreign aid than their counterparts in the other governorates, which led to an unequal distribution of income among NGOs in Egypt.

The problem of management is also considered among the serious difficulties faced by NGOs. This problem is manifested in several ways including the lack of qualified cadres capable of effectively holding the responsibility of the social work. As a result, most of the activities of these organizations are confined only to few areas that are mainly affected by the philosophy of their managers. This is clearly obvious in the meetings of the board members which are most of the time fake formalities that do not encourage the members to effectively participate in shaping the policies and plans of the organization. Although the Ministry of Social Affairs provide training services to enhance the capacity of practitioners working in local NGOs, this effort is not sufficient to substantially solve the problem. In addition, the lack of effective systems of recording and documentation is another managerial deficiency that local NGOs suffer from. Consequently, ensuring transparency and transmitting clear documents concerned with the NGOs' memberships, activities, and budgets in front of the accountable agencies is quite difficult. This lack of transparent documentation, in turn, opens the door for possible corrupt and unethical practices. Ineffective organization is also among the serious problems faced by NGOs in Egypt. One aspect of this problem is the unclear specialization of the management, which leads to a confusion in identifying the responsibilities of their members, and in turn, a difficulty in applying accurate accountability. Moreover, the restriction of power and authority in the hands of one or few of the organizations' members leads to neglecting any positive participation of the rest of the members who can effectively facilitate and enhance the organization's activities. Besides, the lack of coordination between the activities of the different organizations in the same region replicates the efforts and services provided to the community.

As for the relations between NGOs and the government, very often there is a lack of cooperation between the organizations and the local authority, which hampers their activities and prevents them from achieving their objectives. Finally, imposing several kinds of censorships restricts the activities of the organizations and makes their management work in a cautious environment .

Private Islamic organizations, though they are not the most eminent aspect of the Islamic movement, they are widely developing and spreading in Egypt's cities and villages. Despite the fact that they lack organized coordination, these associations have great potentials to achieve sound economic and social developments that the government could not achieve. These associations' developmental efforts have wide inputs in the areas of health care, education, and vocational training .

Islamic private associations in Egypt started from the nineteenth century. They achieved a sound legitimacy with the emergence and success of the Society of Muslim Brothers after 1928 which reached its peak after World War II. After the 1952 revolution, however, the government worked on confining the social and economic development under its strict supervision, which led to the elimination of voluntary work. Nonetheless, due to the government's inability to successfully replace the services contributed by the private initiatives, voluntary efforts made by religious organizations have gradually started to take place.

There are several case studies of Islamic associations in Egypt, among which are Ezbet Zein Community Association. The Community Association of Ezbet Zein started in a small community around a factory, with no public services like water or a public school. By the late 1970s, the community leaders asked the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) to support them financially to expand their mosque. Lacking an allocated budget to be used for mosques, the ministry suggested the foundation of a community development association (CDA) which can be supported with human and financial resources by the ministry. The association was the seed that led to the renovation of the mosque, the development of a nursery school and a vocational training program. The tasks of the fifteen board members were to collect the zakat and spend it on various programs organized to help the surrounding community. These programs include instruction in the Koran, sewing center, medical care by renting a room to a doctor who provides medical services with low fees, food cooperative, and septic tank cleaning. In 1983, the CDA's budget was over L.E 7000, four-fifths of which came from the zakat and other contributions from the community. 70% of the costs of the day care center and the sewing centers were covered from fees and selling garments. The Community Association of Ezbet Zein is an example of a private initiative made by the community to independently achieve self sufficiency as a result to the government's lack of ability to fulfill all the community's needs.

Mustafa Mahmoud Society, which is considered as one of the most successful private Islamic initiatives, is another example of an Islamic society. The society was founded in 1975 by the prominent thinker Mustafa Mahmoud who founded it to comply with the theory that Islam is adequate and supportive to science and to advance the general benefits of the public. The society has an Islamic library, an observatory, a geological museum, a clinic and a hospital. The society also promotes Islamic culture and education by carrying out tours to Islamic monuments and presenting films and lectures. It also provides relief abroad such as clothes and medicines to Afghan refugees. Starting from the 1990's, about 8000 families benefit annually from the society in the form of monthly salaries or medical supports. Linked to the hospital, the society has founded a mosque from which it raises fund, so that they both have complementary roles. Though the hospital was not first prepared for overnight services, by 1989, it removed to another building which has sixty beds that are divided into three categories. Thirty beds are for charitable purposes, ten beds are first-class single rooms while the remaining twenty are economy class double rooms. The hospital contains ninety four physicians who receive from 20 – 25 percent of their treatment with a maximum of L.E 600.

Islamic medical associations are generally perceived as a much better service than the public medical hospitals. Both doctors and patients see hospitals associated with religious NGOs as more profitable. As for the doctors, though they might be committed to the humane and religious cause of the service, it can also be considered as a preferable financial resource since they often take a percentage of their treatment, which constitute a higher source of income than the public hospitals. Patients, on the other hand, perceive Islamic medical associations as a midway between the public and private hospitals. They provide a good quali

Whereas most Islamic associations are registered to serve one community within the country, over 200 societies are nationally registered and have branches in the different Egyptian governorates. One example is al-Jam'iyya al-Shar'iyya li al-amilin bi al-Kittab wa al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya (The ''Lawful/Religious'' Association for ''Those who Behave'' According to the Book and the Muhammadan Sunna). The Shar'iyya Society is working in the 26 governorates of Egypt and has 123 branches in Cairo. It is more organized, centralized and politicized than the other Islamic associations in Egypt. Building large and strong connections with student societies in universities and other Islamic groups, the Shar'iyya Society formed a wide network in the different political, economic, education, and social areas. The society, through its branches allover Egypt, has formed schools, clinics, libraries, day care centers, and other social services for the public good.

In addition, to Islamic organizations, Christian NGOs have also active inputs in the Egyptian society. One of the most successful Christian associations in Egypt is CEOSS whose headquarter is based in al-Minya while it has different branches in Cairo, Assiut, and other governorates. Founded in 1952, CEOSS programs and activities have developed to benefit annually approximately 1.5 million beneficiaries. Its comprehensive program includes different areas, among which are agriculture, health, family planning, literacy, education, and vocational training. In 1993, the annual budget of CEOSS was 1.9 million, 25% of which is raised in Egypt whereas the remaining 75% come form external financial aid from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Another example of a successful Christian PVO is Jami'yyat al-Sa'id al-Masihiyya (The Christian Society of Upper Egypt). In 1941, Jesuit priest Henry Ayrout established the society, which is supported by Amba Setphanos II, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch and honorary president of the society. Like many other societies in Egypt, the fund of the society significantly relies on foreign aid. The society's main aim is "the overall development of the person, so that each one can build himself and participate with others in building their community.'' In order to achieve this goal, the society adopted two complementary strategies; the first is education while the second is development. Accordingly, the society has built 36 schools in Cairo, al-Minya, Assiut, Sohag, and Luxor where it educates more than 11,000 students and employs 600 administrators and teachers. The society tries to implement its second strategy, which is development, through various programs, including programs for women, health care, literacy, children, and youth.

By providing benefits and support to the local communities, these societies are gaining legitimacy and credibility, and in turn, less dependency on the government. However, the Egyptian government still has interests in these societies, which is obvious in its limited, but ongoing financial support to them. Among the goals of the Egyptian government is to exercise control and supervision over these NGOs as well as to gain recognitions for their accomplishments. Meanwhile, the degree of governmental control varies in dealing with urban societies and rural ones. Because of the distance proximity between the local government and urban associations, they experience pressure and control from the government more than the rural ones. In addition, outside Cairo, governors welcome and support religious associations as long as they are not political. This attitude is due to the fact that these governorates receive less financial support from the government than Cairo, which makes their governors seek other financial substitutions that are usually found in these religious societies.

According to a study conducted by Amany Kandil in 1992, the number of religious organizations in Egypt are 3554, making around 31.4% of the total number of civil society organizations in Egypt, 26.5% of which are Islamic while 4.9% are Christian. However, another study conducted by the same researcher in 2002 revealed that the number of religious institutions increased to reach about 34% of the total number of NGOs.

The following table presents the percentages of the distribution of religious associations in some governorates:

In the past decades, the meaning of philanthropy has expanded from being merely an act of ''giving'' to be a significantly important tool for the sustainable economic and social development of the community. Besides, the importance of the role of the private sector in contributing to development is increasingly emphasized. This new role of the private sector to be a sustainable and local source of development is considered as corporate social responsibility .

In the present time, there are several factors that stimulate a more active and substantial role for the private sector in promoting philanthropy in Egypt. The first factor is the gradual retreat of the government's responsibility towards economic and social development as a result to the economic reform and the beginning of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). This new phase has perceived a dramatically new relationship between the state and the private sector whose needed role to promote social and economic growth has become unavoidable. In the last decade, a relationship of strong cooperation has taken place between the two parties to start a new period characterized with liberal economy, increased privatization, free foreign trade as well as more involvement of the private sector in investments, especially in development and infrastructural projects . According to the Minister of Economy Youssef Botros Ghali, "The private sector's share of the GDP reached 75%, besides being the source of all technological developments introduced into the Egyptian economy." He confirms that the private sector is responsible for 75% of Egypt’s development investments, adding that it became the only ground on which Egypt’s economy can depend on for the future, specifically in creating job opportunities. Moreover, according to Mohamed El-Ghamrawi, the Head of the General Authority for Investments and Free Zones (GAFI), 11682 investment companies with investment costs of L.E 201 billion have been established until the 30th of June, 2002. This is in addition to 772 private companies with investment costs of $ 15 billion were founded in the free zones creating approximately 100,000 job opportunities .

Another factor that motivates the participation of the private sector in social and economic development is the decrease of foreign aid. Until 1990, Egypt had received a considerable share of foreign aid that mounted to $ US 30 billion since the second half of the 1970s, half of which came from the United States. However, by the 1990s, many voices in the US have protested against the annual aid devoted to both Egypt and Israel, the two highest aid recipients from the United States. As a result, Egypt is currently facing reductions in foreign aid, which accordingly led to cuts in money allocated to community development. Consequently, the only promising alternative that both the government and civil society organizations can resort to in order to pursue local development is to encourage the dependence on our local resources. This can be achieved by enhancing the sense of social responsibility in the private sector and encouraging their tendency to pursue substantial philanthropic contributions that successfully lead to community development .

The third factor that reveals the urgent need for the private sector's significant role in contributing to development is the growing gap between the rich and the poor. As a result to the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), the economic and social conditions within the country have deteriorated. Despite its claimed future economic promises, the implementation of SAP was accompanied with negative social conditions, including a remarkable increase in prices, major growth in the unemployment rate, and at the same time, serious cuts in the government's social expenditures. A dramatic increase in the poverty rate was, therefore, a direct and inevitable result . According to statistics, Egypt has a debt of $ 29 billion, a budget with revenues of $21.5 billion and expenditures of $26.2 billion, making a deficit of $ 4.7 billion, unemployment rate 12%, the rate of people below the poverty line constitutes 22.9%, infant mortality rate of 5.9% and illiteracy rate making 61% for women and 36% for men . According to El Daly, the daily salary of a school teacher or a public sector employee is US $ 2. Health problems, malnutrition and illiteracy are problems facing 20.9% in urban areas, 43% in rural areas, and 33.9% on at the national level. Meanwhile, only 5 to 10 percent of the population can meet the expenses of luxurious goods while the remaining 90% are living under limited and most likely severe economic conditions.

However, despite the private and haphazard interventions, founding one's own NGO is a new pattern created by few local businessmen to institutionalize their giving. The objective behind this might differ either because of lack of trust with local NGOs, a feeling of hatred to deal with them, or a wish to set their own rules. SEKEM is an example of this pattern. SEKEM was initiated by the Egyptian businessperson Ibrahim Abu el-‎ ‎'ysh who wanted to set an example of collaboration between businessmen and the local community to achieve development without relying on the government or on foreign aid. In 1984, an NGO was established to organize and manage the increasingly expanding social activities. The initiative began in the desert near Belbeis by introducing and promoting bio-dynamic methods of agriculture to produce healthy agricultural products as alternatives to the use of agrochemicals and pesticides that lead to severe health problems. In addition, seeking to combine arts, religion and sciences, Sekem has established and promoted institutions serving education, health, and research. As El Daly states, ''the initiative is primarily concerned with building the capacity of farmers through art and sciences in a cooperative social milieu while reclaiming the desert in an environmentally friendly manner."

Besides SEKEM, one of the most recent institutionalized philanthropic attempts initiated by the private sector is the LEAD Foundation (Lend, Empower, Advance, Develop) initiated through the collaboration between the Mansour Group of Companies, the USAID, and the International Financial Corporation (IFC), which is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. The foundation is managed by Mohamed Mansour of the Mansour Group while the board includes prominent Egyptian industrialists. The foundation's mission is to "help Egyptians help themselves". Its goal is to launch several community development projects aimed at giving people the chance to develop skills and find new jobs. There are two major programs that will work under the foundation. The first is the Small and Micro-Lending Program, which will fund small and micro enterprises for disadvantaged Egyptians in poor areas by borrowing funds from local banks and lending them to small and micro entrepreneurs. The second program is under the name of a Chance to Work, which provides on-the-job training in skills that are currently needed in the vocational market. These skills are identified through a conducted market research. The LEAD foundation will be partly operating through a financial contribution or membership fees that will be annually provided by the founders. In addition, fund raising activities will be conducted seeking support form local resources, from both the private sector as well as individual donors.

As shown above, the Egyptian private sector's philanthropic endeavors were achieved either through few attempts of founding local NGOs or most likely through providing unfocused and unorganized charitable acts that do not have truly developmental goals. One major reason behind these limited and premature philanthropic attempts by the private sector is the legal frame in which the private sector was confined to during the last decades. Although by law, establishing foundations was prohibited for long years, this legal frame has changed to some extent after substituting law number 32 of year 1962 with law number 84 of year 2002. The law defines local foundations as any institution that allocates a specific amount of fund permanently or for a certain period of time to achieve nonprofit objectives. The foundation should be established by one or a group of founders. A written structure has to be developed and should include the name of the organization, its location, the geographical area to which it would devote its services, its objectives, a detailed statement describing the devoted fund allocated to serve its purposes, and the foundation's management structure. Each foundation has to have at least three members in the board of trustees appointed by the founder/s. The Ministry of Social Affairs and the General Union for local organizations and foundations have to be informed with any modification that would happen to the board of trustees. The foundation's management will be the responsibility of the board of trustees whose president will be its representative in front of the court. It is allowed for local foundation to receive fund from local resources, but after taking MOSA's permission and based on the conditions decided by the donor. The foundation can be dissolved by the Minister of Social Affairs in case of practicing illegal activities violating the law. However, the foundation's representatives have the right to appeal to court. If the court approves the dissolution's decision, the foundation's fund will be transferred to a box allocated to provide aid to local organizations and foundations. Finally, the foundation has to have an annual budget which can be substituted with regular financial reports that clearly explains the foundation's incomes and expenses.

As a result to this new legal environment, the idea of establishing private foundations very slowly started to affect many of the most prominent Egyptian businessmen who began to realize the importance of private foundations in effectively achieving their social responsibilities. One of the most famous and important examples of private foundations in Egypt established by businessmen is the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD). The SFSD capital is generated by grant provided by the Sawiris family. It consists of a trust that should be generating LE 5 million in the first year of operation and is expected to increase over time. The mission of the Sawiris Foundation is to promote social development through improved access to training and education, as well as funding small and medium scale enterprises. The main focus of SFSD is the promotion of social development, cultural, and educational services.

From the above overview over the philanthropic life in Egypt, one would deduct that Egypt has a variety of philanthropic wealth, both in individual and organizational forms. However, there are several problems facing philanthropy in Egypt, which hampers the allocation and management of the local resources in ways that would achieve significant steps towards development. These problems include the domination of the culture of philanthropy for charity over the culture of philanthropy for development, the lack of an enabling environment that would revive the waqf system and successfully manage it, and the economic and managerial problems facing NGOs, which minimize the organizations' effective inputs in the society. A fourth problem is the very limited culture of corporate social responsibility among the private sector. Therefore, there are basic prerequisites that have to be done in order to mobilize our local resources and maximize the role of philanthropy in Egypt. The first prerequisite consists of developing awareness among Egyptian donors about the significance of giving for development. This should go together with the development of easy, realistic, and creative plans to guide people to the best possible methods to allocate their giving for development. The concept of waqf and its role in achieving sustainable development is in need to be revitalized among the Egyptian public. On the governmental side, the legal environment need to be dramatically amended in order to create an enabling environment that would encourage the Egyptian public to return to their waqf culture. Besides, most NGOs in Egypt are in need of trained and qualified cadres capable of solving the organizations' managerial problems that are manifested in the quality and kind of the implemented activities, the problem of fund and the lack of accountable and transparent system capable of attracting the public's trust towards the third sector. Finally, mobilizing corporate social responsibility and encouraging the few steps that have been started by few businesspersons is substantially important since the capital owned by the private sector is one of the basic local resources that Egypt owns and in need of its active contribution to development. Corporate social responsibility entails not only alert conscience from the part of businessmen, but also the development of true legal incentives that would encourage them to practice organized and developmental philanthropy. Although these prerequisites are not easy to be implemented and do need major efforts from all segments in the society, each one of them is inevitably important.