Upper Egypt Local Development Program

The Upper Egypt Local Development Program for Results (UELDP Program) forms part of Government of Egypt’s (GoE) Inclusive Economic Development Program for Lagging Regions (IEDLR). The IEDLR aims to replace the ‘investment-only and centrally planned’ model of the past in addressing the fundamental development challenges of the region in creating jobs and reducing poverty with a more comprehensive approach to local development with increased accountability and inclusion of citizens and businesses in decision making.

The UELDP aims to improve the business environment for private sector development and its economic competitiveness and to strengthen local government capacity for provision of quality infrastructure and service delivery in two governorates of Upper Egypt; namely Sohag and Qena. The Program is financed by the World Bank through a Program for Results (PforR) Loan. The PforR arrangement was selected as the most appropriate financing instrument for a Program of this nature which adopts a combined approach comprised of institutional transformation and infrastructure investment to deliver its objectives. The PforR seeks to strengthen country systems and directly links disbursement of funds with results through the achievement of specified Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs).