Achieving sustainable, evidence-driven and citizen-centred public governance reforms requires solid foundations. By setting robust institutional and governance arrangements, these reforms can enable governments to work better, deliver results to their constituencies and enhance trust in the legitimacy of decisions across sectors and levels of government. Strengthening the foundations for public governance reforms to succeed is all the more important in a context of accelerating social, economic and political transitions at both the national and global level, such as those faced by Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region more broadly.
The government of Egypt is undertaking significant reforms to modernise its public administration and meet the most pressing challenges facing the country now and in the future. These efforts build on milestones achieved to date, with the adoption of Egypt Vision 2030 (2016) and the Public Administration Reform Plan (2014). While progress has been made, the Government of Egypt stands at a critical juncture in achieving its ambitious reforms by 2030 and ensuring their continuity beyond. Overall, this Review finds that these reforms will require a long, gradual process to change how the public administration operates.
The OECD Public Governance Review of Egypt takes stock of institutional arrangements, policy frameworks and procedures across various policy areas to identify priorities for reform. This analysis provides policy recommendations and good practice examples for the Government of Egypt to apply to its public governance reform agenda. The Review analyses key drivers for successful implementation and provides support on issues such as whole-of-government co‑ordination, public employment and management, administrative simplification, transparency and public communication, as well as gender and youth mainstreaming.
The OECD Public Governance Review was developed as part of the long-standing cooperation between the Government of Egypt, the European Union and the OECD. The Review was financed under the EU supported project “Support to Enhanced Administrative and Public Economic Governance in Egypt (2022-2026)”. The EU-funded project contributes to strengthened public governance that is an important area of the EU-Egypt’s Partnership Priorities.
The Review was conducted in the framework of the MENA-OECD Governance Programme. This strategic partnership between the MENA region and OECD Member countries shares knowledge, practices and expertise, disseminating standards and good governance principles to support public governance reforms. As part of its mandate, the MENA-OECD Governance Programme supports the modernisation of public institutions and effective governance systems that can develop and deliver more accessible public policies and services that meet the needs of citizens. The Review complements the work under the Egypt Country Programme to incentivise and support ongoing structural reforms. It also benefits from the work carried out within the framework of SIGMA, a joint OECD-European Union initiative that assists associated countries in modernising public administration systems. Finally, the Review contributes to the objectives of the 2023-24 Programme of Work and Budget of the OECD Public Governance Committee, in line with its strategic priorities on governing for prosperity.
The publication was approved by the OECD Public Governance Committee via written procedure on the 4 December 2024 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.