Number of adopted children in Egypt amounts to almost 12.4K

CAIRO – 5 September 2024: The Ministry of Social Solidarity indicated in a statement Thursday that the number of adopted children had amounted to 12,347 – in August - distributed among 12,159 foster families.

The last meeting by the Supreme Committee on Foster Families – chaired by the ministry's legal consultant - convened this week, and made decisions on 56 adoption requests, approving 22.

The ministry delivers training to the families, and its directorates located across governorates follow up on the conditions of adopted children to ensure their safety and well-being.

In 2023, the ministry stated that the number of orphans in Egypt was 1,430,000. Seventy percent lost their father, 27 percent lost their mother, and three percent lost both parents. Many are partially funded by the government and charities.

Efforts have been underway to launch Egypt's first orphan hosting center, whose mission will be providing temporary residence to children aged between zero and six for a maximum of three months until they are adopted, by either extended family members or foster families, or sent to orphanages. The services provided there will include the issuance of birth certificates, and screening for diseases. However, this specific center will only serve Greater Cairo and Alexandria.

The ministry launched an ambitious strategy on alternative care in 2021. The strategy aims for turning the extended family into caregivers, in case of the loss of both biological parents or stripping them of custody rights, with the ministry covering the larger part of expenses.

If the extended family is not an option, the other choice becomes small and safe families, so as facilities become the last resort. Equally, the minister pointed out that the ministry works on bolstering control mechanisms to hold accountable anyone who abuses children.

Last, a dialogue was held by the ministry with orphanages to learn about their objections and concerns regarding foster families. Those included updating the status of children every six months; the need to obtain a permit to travel with adopted children; and fears that the biological parents would appear and attempt to blackmail foster families.

In that respect, the former minister noted that coordination was ongoing with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that foster families would maintain custody over the children.

Other demands included protecting adopted children against discrimination at schools and universities, and enabling foster families to open accounts in their name at banks and adding them to their memberships in sport/social clubs.