UNFPA and Al-Azhar’s International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research, launched this week the pilot training for 20 female religious leaders on the newly-developed pre-marital curriculum on population issues, with the support of the European Union in Egypt.

The training comes as part of UNFPA’s program to build the capacity of religious leaders on family planning and population issues.

It will be followed by a second pilot for male religious leaders, after which Training of Trainers workshops will be held targeting a further 200 religious leaders from 17 governorates across Egypt.