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The Economic Well Being of Egyptians in a Globalized WorldTable (2-2)Egypt Quality of LifeIndex1980Under-5 mortality rate (per 1000)Urban population (% of total)Life expectancy at birth FMCarbon dioxide emission(metric tons per capita)Access to sanitation in urbanAreas (% of urban pop. 1995-95)175441.41998594568651.7of carbon dioxide emission and increasingthe percentage of urban population withaccess to sanitation.This sketchy evidence shows that thegeneral indicators of human developmentand QOL, although slightly improving, didnot significantly change in the 1990scompared to the 1980s. This reflects the factthat while Egypt did not capture theopportunities for growth, it did not sufferfrom the volatilities and insecuritiesexperienced in other countries. It seems thatfor Egypt to benefit from globalization itshould achieve rapid sustainable growthwith equity.Typology of HD in the Governoratesof EgyptIt is clear from the above analysis thathigh levels of human developmentpromote economic growth, which in turncan promote human development.20Conversely, weak human development islikely to result in low growth, furtherundermining the prospect of future humandevelopmentThis means that an economy may be on amutually reinforcing upward, or downward,spiral resulting from the links between HDand economic growth. The strength of theselinks influences the extent of mutualreinforcement between HD and EG.Community performance can therefore beusefully classified into four categories:virtuous; vicious; and two types oflopsidedness, strong HD/weak growth(called HD-lopsided); and weak HD/ strongEG (called EG-lopsided). In the virtuouscycle case, good HD enhances growth,which in turn promotes HD, and so on. Inthe vicious cycle case, poor performance onHD tends to lead to poor growthperformance which in turn depresses HDachievements, and so on. The stronger thelinkages in the two relations describedabove the more pronounced is theinterdependence between economic growthand HD, either in a mutually reinforcing orin a dampening direction. Where linkagesare weak, cases of lopsided developmentmay occur. On the one hand, high economicgrowth may not bring about good HD, if, forexample, there are such weak linkages as alow social expenditure ratio; on the otherhand, good HD performance may notgenerate good EG if increases in educationlevel are not translated into increases inproductivity and opportunities foremployment. Such cases of lopsideddevelopment are unlikely to persist. EitherAn economy may beon a mutuallyreinforcing upward,or downward, spiralresulting from thelinks between HD andeconomic growth.Box (2.4)Health and EducationIt is generally recognized that increasedspending on education and healthcontributes towards higher GDP growthrates. Government average annual spendingon education as a percentage of GDP rosefrom 3.8 per cent for 1987-90 to 4.34 percent for 91/92-93/94 and 5.37 per cent for1994-1997. Similarly, government averagespending on health for the same periods wassuccessively 1.54 per cent, 1.69 per cent and1.64 per cent. The rise in spending on healthand education was unfortunately associatedwith a lower GDP rate of growth. Theexplanation might reside in the government’sconcern for the number of beneficiaries ratherthan the quality of these social services.Greater attention should be given in thesesectors to the allocation of investment toproductive endeavors focusing directly onimproving services rather than to buildings,which do not benefit these services in theshort-term.Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001 - 33