1st family reconciliation center opened in Qalubiya as divorce rates spike

CAIRO – 9 March 2022: Egypt has witnessed over the past period a high rate of divorce, with many cases are resolved at family courts leaving families split apart, which in return negatively affects the society.

Believing that the family is the mainstay of society, the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowment) inaugurated the first center for family reconciliation in Qalubiya governorate, as part of a protocol signed with the Ministry of Justice and the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa.

The center aims to confront the high rate of divorce in society by reconciling families and rebuilding their pillars anew.

According to the protocol signed between the Ministers of Endowments And Justice and the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa, the first center for family reconciliation was opened at the level of the Republic in the governorate of Qalyubia in the city of Benha, which in turn helps in resolving family disputes before resorting to divorce.

Sheikh Safwat Abu Al-Saud, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments, said that the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa, has held training courses for 903 imams across the country, and the training included legal, jurisprudence and preaching aspects to be able to give counseling in such disputes.

He confirmed that the ministry has prepared training and rehabilitation courses for imams in relation to family issues from the legal side and how to preserve these rights with the help of specialized advisers in family courts, as well as scholars of the Ministry of Endowments and the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa to integrate efforts to reach a single vision whose main goal is to preserve Egyptian family entity.

He hinted that the center came as an extension of the role of the Ministry of Awqaf for awareness, guidance, education and enlightenment, emphasizing its approach in renewing and keeping pace with the religious discourse for all the requirements of society.

He pointed out that a worker has been tasked to receive family reconciliation requests from spouses around the clock at the center, where two days a week have been set for the committee to convene, examine the requests and work on solving them in secrecy, and in the event of an increase in the numbers of families coming to the center, allocated days will be increased to cope up with the volume of the requests.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf in Qalyubia added that the center included the Ministries of Awqaf and Justice and the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa, because sometimes family problems require legal opinion, and this is what the representative of the Ministry of Justice in the formed committee is for.