Egypt’s “Two is Enough” population control program is not enacting real behavioral change or effectively addressing the real reasons Egyptians tend to favor having several children, Ruth Michaelson writes for the Guardian. While the government is providing subsidized contraceptives through its clinics, the campaign has thus far failed to provide a way to change the widespread mentality — particularly among the poor — that children are a source of income. Doctors also say that the program must begin targeting children while they are still in school, in addition to educating adults. “The campaign will increase [redacted] education for some medical professionals, but will not begin a programme of [redacted] education in schools, currently non-existent. It also ignores options for women with unwanted pregnancies, with abortion seen as a legal grey area in Egypt.”

Other headlines worth a skim:

• Egypt named in CNN Travel, Bloomberg travel lists: Egypt made it on made CNN Travel and Bloomberg’s listsof 19 places to visit in 2019and top cruise destinations of 2019.
• Rights activist Amal Fathi’s husband has appealed to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to pardon his wife from a two-year prison sentence over a Facebook video in which she denounced [redacted] harassment, according to AFP.