Egypt is stepping up its efforts to drastically reduce poverty - if not to stamp it out altogether. The fresh round in this hard battle was announced yesterday at the Second Conference for Integrated Social Policies, chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and organised by Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Mesilhi, dubbed the Minister of the Poor. There should be cause for optimism, especially as the organisers, key speakers and family welfare activists at the conference stressed that scientific and consistent policies should constitute the decisive weapon in this battle

. The Government is well aware that poverty and its appalling repercussions will pose a serious threat to national security if the situation spins tragically out of control. Around 40 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population is believed to live below the poverty line.Opposition politicians, representatives of NGOs concerned and officials representing the UN's Development Programme were invited to enrich the discussions and make suggestions at the high-profile conference. Countries like Brazil, India and Turkey have already survived similar battles and Egypt can learn from their experiences.Egypt's anti-poverty battle was first revealed by the ruling party when its influential Policies Committee, chaired by Gamal Mubarak, launched an unprecedented project for the development of the nation's 1,000 poorest villages.