An executive regulation activating the new Child Law has been issued, it was announced by the Ministry for Family and Population. The new law was enacted two years ago.
Minister Moushira Khattab, speaking at a press conference on Monday, said the regulation takes into consideration Egypt’s culture and society, and she hopes to go even further than the current regulation in the future.
She said the delay in adopting the regulation enabled the inclusion of a number of other issues, such as child nutrition and breastfeeding.
Khattab reiterated President Hosni Mubarak’s concern about Egypt’s increasing population, with two million children born in 2009 alone, undermining the Ministry of Education’s plans to deal with issues of school admission and attendance.
Khattab explained that the regulation will enable mothers to register their newly-born babies even if they do not have a marriage contract. In such cases the father’s full name will be registered and the birth report sent to civil authorities.
The regulation, according to the minister, will allow families to give their names to adopted orphans without any legal consequences, even if one of the family members is not an Egyptian national. She said assistance will be provided to these families for the support of their adopted children.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
