Egypt's children and youth,representing more than one-third of the country´s populationand its future, face several significant challenges, asshown by higher child poverty rates and unequal access tobasic services.The objective of this report is three-fold:(i) to analyze the extent of inequality of opportunity amongEgyptian children; (ii) to inform government policy on howsuccess in life is influenced by factors predetermined atbirth; and (iii) to identify policies and interventions thatmay contribute to improving equality of opportunity. Theunderlying premise is that ensuring equality of opportunityentails leveling the playing field in such a way that everychild, regardless of the circumstances of his/her birth,will have an equal chance to succeed in life. This reportanalyzes the extent of provision of equal access to basicopportunities to all children (including healthcare,education, clean water and sanitation), and identifies themain circumstances that affect it and therefore determinehuman development outcomes. The analysis in this reportbuilds on the concepts and ideas developed in the WorldDevelopment Report (WDR). The findings are aimed atsupporting debates and discussions, within and outside theGovernment of Egypt, on the need to ensure equality ofopportunity, to contribute to the development of policiesand institutions for children and youth, and to provide animproved sense of hope and social justice for the future andhelp build a more equitable society in the post-Mubarak era.The report is structured as follows: section one presentsthe background and motivation for the study; section twodeals with early risk factors and associated health andeducation outcomes for children; and section three presentsthe estimates of inequality of opportunity among children.Details about the data sources and various analysespresented are included in the annexes.
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