Egypt Launches ‘Hayat’ Initiative to Support Street Children Under Presidential Patronage

Dr. Maya Morsi, Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity, chaired the inaugural meeting of the High Committee for the ‘Hayat’ initiative aimed at addressing the issue of street children, held at the ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Abla El-Afifi, Deputy Minister of Health and Population, along with representatives from various ministries and organizations including Interior, Local Development, Environment, Finance, Social Solidarity, Awqaf (Religious Endowments), Education and Technical Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, State for Media, Justice, Culture, Youth and Sports, Administrative Control Authority, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the Egyptian Church, General Intelligence Service, Public Prosecution, Tahya Misr Fund, National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, National Center for Social and Criminal Research, and the Egyptian Red Crescent Society.

Minister Morsi expressed her gratitude to the committee formed by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1557 of 2025 for their efforts in studying the phenomenon of homeless children as mandated by President El-Sisi. The findings from this study led to the establishment of the High Committee for the ‘Hayat’ initiative through Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1589 of 2026.

Dr. Morsi emphasized that the High Committee will focus on evaluating outcomes from the committee formed under Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1557 of 2025. This includes launching a dedicated initiative for street children named ‘Hayat’, aimed at providing care and integration into society while ensuring necessary psychological, health, and social interventions are implemented across all governorates in phases.

She outlined plans to establish a timeline for executing this initiative while monitoring progress at each stage. This includes completing surveys, training personnel, and developing care programs in other governorates.

Ayman Abdel Mawgood, Permanent Undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Solidarity, presented an overview of previous committee activities under Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1557 of 2025. The committee examined countries with similar economic and demographic conditions to Egypt and reviewed experiences from the National Program for Protecting Homeless Children between 2014 and 2022. Key challenges identified included a lack of activation of the program’s supervisory committee which hindered coordination among working groups across ministries.

Dr. Ahmed Saada, Executive Director of the Fund for Supporting Projects of NGOs and Civil Institutions showcased a comprehensive care model at ‘Hayat’, a government facility previously known as Child Care Center in Giza under the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

The ‘Hayat’ complex serves various age groups from emergency care to aftercare services for both men and women without homes. It operates professionally with case management systems and contracts with accredited service providers under governance from the fund—positioning it as a pilot model that can be replicated across provinces.

Following these presentations, Minister Morsi invited feedback from participating organizations on strategies to address street children’s issues. The next meeting will focus on developing executive plans for this initiative.