The Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Maya Morsy, participated in a high-level session at the 57th edition of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Dr. Morsy was a keynote speaker in a session titled “Enforcing States’ Responsibilities on the Role of the Family in Safeguarding the Human Rights of its Members.”
This session is part of commemorating the 30th anniversary of the declaration of the International Year of the Family.
In her speech, the Minister emphasized that Egypt, along with other countries, called for celebrating the thirtieth anniversary this year, which reaffirms our commitment to strengthening family-centered policies.
She noted that the Egyptian Constitution, Egypt Vision 2030, and the government program approved by Parliament on human development and the family were formulated.
Additionally, the recently reconstituted Cabinet included, for the first time, a Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development.
The legislative reform also included laws for persons with disabilities, the Elderly Rights Care Law, the Child Law, and laws regulating the work of the National Council for Women.
Moreover, work is underway on legislative amendments to the Personal Status Law and the Labor Law, and the Alternative Care Law is being drafted.
She explained that, in the completion of the legislation, the political will is evident in President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s adoption of three major development programs: the Decent Life Program to raise the level of infrastructure and basic necessities of life, the Family Development Program to raise the level of population characteristics, and the National Beginning Initiative, which focuses on human development.
Dr. Maya further explained that Egypt has a strong and systematic targeting of the most needy groups represented in the cash support program, where cash support is provided to a total of 5.2 million families of the most needy, including approximately 22 million citizens.
There are 4.7 million families in addition to 500,000 families funded by the National Alliance for Civil Development Action.
The President of the Republic recently issued directives to register these families in health insurance, in addition to irregular workers in the contracting, construction, and building sectors, and social pioneers.
This falls within the state’s vision to enhance social safety nets and ensure protection for the most needy groups. Economic empowerment is also the cornerstone of family development.
The Ministry of Social Solidarity and its agencies have reached 1.3 million families, of which women represent more than 70% (2014-2024). Egypt is currently reshaping social protection and cash support programs to include economic empowerment from day one and the digital savings and lending model.
The Minister of Social Solidarity pointed out that we also have national programs for early childhood development and positive parenting programs, in addition to the “Mawadda” initiative for preparing those about to get married, which provides young people with knowledge on how to build a healthy family entity, as over 1,200,000 young men and women have been trained, and a digital platform has been launched that reaches nearly 5 million citizens.
Dr. Maya Morsi stressed that recognizing countries’ cultural characteristics is paramount in formulating and implementing global policies for family development and that adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to family development can backfire, leading to unintended consequences or resistance.
By recognizing and respecting specificities, policies that enhance family development can be strengthened, and this approach ensures that global initiatives are compatible with local reality.
The session was attended by the Permanent Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, led by Ambassador Ahmed Ihab Gamal El-Din and members of the mission.
