Egyptian government grants 839 apartments to orphans

CAIRO – 22 December 2024: The Ministry of Social Solidarity delivered, between September and December, 68 apartments worth a total of LE 38.6 million to orphans in the governorates of Luxor, Giza, Cairo, Menoufeya, Damietta, and Suez.

As such, the total number of units delivered is upped to 839 out of 1,023 purchased for that purpose. The breakdown of those delivered is 126 units in Cairo, 109 in Qalyoubiyah, 57 in Alexandria, 50 in Sharqia, 33 in Beheira, 19 in Beni Suef, 18 in Daqahliyah, 16 in Gharbia, 14 in Menoufeya, 14 in Menya, 12 in Luxor, eight in Ismailiyah, four in Damietta, and two in Suez.

The ministry indicated in a statement in June that 1,023 apartments had been bought - at LE400 million - as residences for orphans after they leave the facilities amid turning 21, and that the buying of 1,307 others was underway.

The units are delivered fully-furnished within a social safety package that includes in-kind subsidies, state-funded health insurance, vocational training, assistance with job hunting, and credit to start their own businesses.

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.

Former Minister Neveine al-Qabaj stated last year that the number of orphans in Egypt was 1,430,000. Seventy percent of those lost their father, 27 percent lost their mother, and three percent lost both parents. Many of those are partially funded by the government and charities.