EGYPT Country Brief: UNICEF Regional Study on Child Marriage In the Middle East and North Africa

EGYPT Country Brief: UNICEF Regional Study on Child Marriage In the Middle East and North Africa

EGYPT Country Brief: UNICEF Regional Study on Child Marriage In the Middle East and North Africa

Egypt Regional Study on Child Marriage

Key Recommendations

Girls’ Voice & Agency

  • Strengthen girls’ voice within the design and implementation of child marriage prevention programmes and policies.
  • Make public spaces safer for girls.
  • Continue to provide financial incentives for sending girls to school.

Household and Community Attitudes and Behaviours

  • Leverage social networks to change collective beliefs and practices related to early marriage and FGM/C.
  • Engage receptive religious leaders.

Service Delivery

  • Increase reporting mechanisms for child marriage.
  • Increase investment in secondary education.

Legal Context

  • Develop strategies to ensure implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Prevention of Early Marriage.
  • Strengthen legal enforcement of existing child marriage laws.
  • Capitalize on related government priorities, such as addressing overpopulation and FGM/C.
  • Consider the unintended consequences of the formalization of ‘seasonal marriages’ through Ministerial Regulation No. 9200.

Evidence Generation

  • Strengthen the coordination of research initiatives.
  • Build evidence on girls’ perceptions of child marriage and how education impacts marriage timing for girls.
  • Use findings to inform the National Strategic Plan for Prevention of Early Marriage.

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