Egypt opens first center for orphans available for adoption

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, 15 FEB - Egypt has decided to open the first hosting centre for children who are waiting to be adopted.
    The centre will serve as a temporary residence for a maximum of three months. The facility will host orphans or children who had to be taken away from large and problematic Egyptian or foreign families. The centre, Egypttoday.com reports, will be managed by the association "FACE for Children in Need" which signed on Tuesday an agreement with the minister of social solidarity, Nevine al-Qabaj. The building is located in Cairo and is ready to host up to 200 kids, the report said. Its services will include providing birth certificates and medical tests to verify the health of orphans.
    The ministry last November had launched a new national adoption program in Egypt with the aim of reducing the number of children who grow up without a family in the country. The dialogue that led to the signature of the agreements was supported by the Cairo chapter of UNICEF, representatives of civil society, of international aid agencies, as well as government and religious officials.
    Minister Nevine al-Qabaj in particular highlighted article 80 of the Egyptian Constitution which gives each child the right to have a name and identification papers, to receive mandatory vaccines, healthcare, nutrition and to have a family and a religious education, as well as support in their emotional development and education. The ministry had already expressed the intention of developing the sector in 2021, first by ensuring that relatives of orphaned children could raise them, or by taking away this right, with the government covering the economic expenses of raising them in institutions. (ANSAmed).