A new website aimed at irregular workers affected by recent measures to curb the spreading of the coronavirus (Covid-19) is to be launched soon, it was announced on Wednesday.
Ahalina, which translates as ‘Our People’, will be a focal point between irregular and intermittent workers on one hand and businesspeople, NGOs, and civil society on the other hand. The announcement was made by Mohamed Abdel-Maksoud, Head of the Crisis Sector and Decision Support at the Cabinet Information Centre, in televised statements on Extra News TV channel.
Abdel-Maksoud added that the website will allow seasonal and irregular workers to register in parallel with their registration on the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Social Solidarity websites.
The website aims to offer new sources of income to workers affected by state measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, particularly workplace closures and the night curfew.
About 1.3 million irregular workers have registered on the Ministry of Manpower’s database in the last few days.
Two weeks ago, the ministry announced the provision of exceptional aid worth EGP 500 per person for irregular workers who are already registered on the ministry’s database.
There are differing estimates for informal and irregular workers in Egypt. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the number of people who depend on intermittent work stands at around 4.3 million at the third quarter of 2019. However, Mohamed Saafan, Minister of Manpower, said earlier this month that there are over 10 million irregular workers in Egypt.
