Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality, in collaboration with ACT Foundation, organized a roundtable discussion titled “Joint Efforts to Enhance the Issuance of a Law Criminalizing Child Marriage” as part of the “Marriage with the Mind, Not the Body” campaign launched in September 2022. This campaign coincided with the discussion of proposals to criminalize child marriage in the Egyptian Parliament and continued through the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The session included representatives from the Egyptian Parliament who discussed key points of their proposed laws, as well as representatives from international organizations and Egyptian civil society working on child and women’s protection as well as a number of Egyptian jurists represented by advisors from judicial and legal bodies. Participants included:

– MP Amira El-Adly
– MP Soheir Abdel Hamid
– Counselor Dr. Mohamed Samir, Deputy Chairman of the Administrative Prosecution Authority and Spokesperson for the Authority
– Counselor Dr. Moataz Abu Zaid, Deputy Chairman of the State Council and Public Law Lecturer
– Ms. Salma El-Fawal, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF
– Mr. Hany Helal, President of the Egyptian Foundation for the Advancement of Childhood Conditions
– Mr. Mahmoud Mortada, Child Rights Consultant and Board Member of the Egyptian Coalition for Children’s Rights
– Dr. Norhan Salama, Project Director of Love Matters
– Ms. Dina Abdel Nabi, Partnership Officer at Love Matters
– Dr. Amira Abdel Aal, Public Health Programs Director at the Egyptian Association for Members of the Royal College of Pediatrics
– Dr. Noha El-Rafie, Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine at Ain Shams University

The seminar was moderated by Ms. Zeinab Khair, Chairman of the Egyptian Association for Economic and Social Rights.