In agriculture, NEF enhanced the well being of poor families settling in newly-reclaimed lands throughout the country. For the third consecutive year, NEF build the capacity of agricultural cooperatives to meet the needs of families, particularly in remote areas. Around Lake Nasser in the south, NEF introduced new extension services and agro-ecology practices to help farmers maximize the value of new land under cultivation.

In health, NEF's Nursing Career Development program capitalized upon its noted successes in Upper Egypt and expanded in 2006 to Cairo's university pediatric hospital, Abu El-Reesh Hospital. It is the largest in the Middle East, serving thousands of children each day. By training more than 300 nurses and creating a core team of nurse trainers, NEF introduced a national model for improved nursing practice.

Recognizing the growing role for the Egyptian private sector, NEF employed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a strategy to develop partnerships between local communities and corporations. In 2006 NEF completed research identifying current corporate social responsibility strategies, focusing on the environment and natural resource management as areas of greatest need. These results were presented to major corporations for their future planning--stimulating Shell, Suez Cement, International Business Leaders Foundation of Prince Charles, and the UN Development Program to join in NEF's work in Egypt.

Well-known for its top quality technical assistance, NEF continued to lead development-related research, training, and project evaluation missions for the Egyptian government as well as both local and international agencies. Significant contributions in 2006 included:

• Egypt's first-ever research to objectively measure the state of civil society using the CIVICUS Index, part of a global research project involving more than 50 countries around the world.

• Impact assessment of Egypt's Social Fund national efforts at poverty reduction, job creation, public works, and enterprise development over eight years, in seven sectors, and a one billion dollar investment.

• Research of all four models being tried by Egypt Population Projects to best provide access and use of reproduction health services, involving 54 projects.

• Evaluation of the African Development Bank's $80 million project for poverty alleviation in Upper Egypt in health, education, and micro-credit.

• Evaluation of six projects of the Egyptian Swiss Development Fund's introduction of new methods for self-evaluation to replace more conventional external techniques.

The largest single provider of Arab-language development assistance and publications in the region, important NEF publications in 2006 included:

• First national quantitative/qualitative research on philanthropy in Egyptian society, including magnitude of giving, motives, and role of philanthropy.

• Manual documenting 10 case studies on asset-based community development and presenting tools to use this approach.

• Translation of "Participatory Learning and Action" (formerly "PLA Notes"), the world's leading informal journal on participation with a circulation of over 20,000 in 121 countries, in conjunction with the UK's International Institute for Environment and Development.

• In conjunction with Canada's International Development Research Center, documentation of "Eco-health Intervention in the MENA Region," mapping of "Policy Environments & Stakeholder Analysis for MENA Region Countries," and translation of "In Focus: Health, an Ecosystem Approach."

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