Indonesia and Egypt are two countries with a large population. Since the 1970s both Countries are struggling to maintain their population growth. Through family planning programs Indonesia and Egypt have been successfully reducing the Total Fertility Rate of the Country. Since the late 1960s, Indonesia’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined by more than 50 percent, from around 5.6 to 2.3 based on census and intercensal survey sources. Currently, according to family enumeration 2021, the TFR of Indonesia is 2.24 births per woman, while the fertility rate for Egypt was 3.2 births per woman which fell gradually from 6.1 births per woman in 1971 to 3.2 births per woman in 2020.
The success of the fertility decline of the two countries has stemmed in part from the launch of a vigorous population and family planning program in the mid-1970s and social and economic change, particularly massive improvements through the 1970s and 1980s in basic education for girls. These developments resulted in significant declines in infertility at the youngest and oldest ages in the reproductive span, which are the riskiest. The population and family planning program has succeeded in raising the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate among women.
The chairman of BKKBN DR.(H.C) dr. Hasto Wardoyo, Sp.OG(K) who was represented by Deputy for Training, Research and Development of BKKBN, Prof. Rizal M Damanik, Ph.D. presented that “currently, the strategy and national action plan have been determined with other supporting instruments to carry out Presiden Jokowi’s mandate that appoints The Chairman of BKKBN as Chief Executive to accelerate stunting reduction. Some of the programs have been developing such as “Mahasiswa PENTING (student awareness program regarding stunting” and DASHAT (healthy kitchen initiative program to overcome stunting through community empowerment which targets pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, children under 5 years old, pre-marriage couples, and family with stunting high risk), etc” explained Prof. Damanik.
Damanik added “to support South-South Cooperation, BKKBN has developed 7 (seven) thematics training in 8 (eight) selected provinces as knowledge hub namely:
- Quality Family Village in Yogyakarta and Bali
- Contraceptive Supply Chain Management in South Sulawesi
- Adolescent Reproductive Health in South Sulawesi
- Muslim Religious Leaders in East Java
- Family Data Collection Survey in DKI Jakarta and Central Java
- Post-Partum Family Planning in East Java and South Sulawesi
- Comprehensive Family Planning Services Training in University Indonesia Hospital and Sardjito Hospital at Yogyakarta
“Since 1989, approximately 120 delegates from Egypt joined training in the field of Family Planning and Family Development including Reproductive Health. We delight in Egypt’s participation in our training. We expect Indonesia could see the innovation program in Egypt” said Prof. Damanik.
On the same occasion, Dr.(H.C) Luthfi Rauf, M.A Ambassador of Indonesia to Egypt explained “strong historical bonding has been translated into collaboration in various areas of cooperation. To begin with, currently, there are more than 10.000 Indonesian Students in Egypt. Most of them are studying at Al-Azhar University, which I can proudly say is the beacon of the teaching of moderate Islam that promotes the values of Wasathiyah. We are hopeful that these students when they graduated, will become an “Ambassador” of Islamic teachings that are in line with the values of diversity that we have in Indonesia, as well as becoming a cultural bridge between Indonesia and Egypt” stated Luthfi.
“On the economic field, both countries have a close and complementary partnership. Despite the mid of pandemic, the trade between the two countries has continued to improve. This is reflected in the strengthening of bilateral trade between the two countries, which has reached USD 1,63 billion in the period of January-November 2021 or an increase of 53,52% compared to January – November (USD 1,06 billion) added Luthfi. 
“International Family Planning Day on 26 September 2021, The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population announced that the rate of use of family planning methods rose to 58.5% of the total women of childbearing age by the end of 2020. In the period of January-August 2021, the Egyptian Ministry of Health has launched 58 convoys for family planning campaigns in174 villages included in the “Decent Life (Hayah Karima)”, said Luthfi.
The Ambassador of Egypt to Indonesia, Ashraf Mohamed Moguib Sultan explained that “the women empowerment program in Egypt is targeting women in the range age group of 18-45, support them to find a job and earn income for living. Through the small and medium project funded by the government for committed women who are willing to use family planning methods and they will also be trained on management process and economic planning for better future” explained Ashraf.