Article 10 of the 1971 Constitution provides that the state shall guarantee the protection of motherhood and childhood, provide care for children and young people and provide suitable conditions for the development of their talents. The Children's Act No. 12 of 1996, amended by Law No. 126 of 2008, is concerned with ensuring that the state serves children’s best interests and ensures that their needs are considered in every aspect of their lives. This legislation was followed by the promulgation of Law No. 1 of 2000 on the regulation of certain conditions and procedures for litigation in matters of personal status. According to this law, couples wishing to divorce were required to reconcile if they had children to protect the children from the adverse effects of family breakdown. Decree No. 4 of 2005 provides for custody to be decided for children up to age 15, after which the child is deemed capable of deciding for himself or herself which parent they wish to live with. 2. The Constitution of 2014 ensures that the rights of the child are guaranteed (Article 80), defining a child to be anyone who has not yet reached 18 years of age. The constitution mandates the protection of children’s rights, including those of disabled children, especially their right to name and identity papers, free mandatory vaccinations, health and family care or alternative care, basic nutrition, safe shelter, education and development of conscience, knowledge and education, as well as the protection of children from all forms of violence and abuse, ill-treatment, sexual and commercial exploitation, as well as establishing a judicial system for child victims. In the same context, Article 214 of the Constitution provided for the establishment of independent national councils, including the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. The council is granted technical, financial and administrative autonomy and the right to inform the public authorities of any violation of its sphere of work. 3. In affirmation of Egypt’s care for children, the government, in cooperation with the Council for Childhood, Motherhood and Local Societies, has launched a National Strategy for Childhood and Motherhood for the period 2017-2023, which aims to enforce the rights of children and mothers from an integrated development perspective and to provide better services to improve the quality of life for Egyptian children and families, and to establish specific priorities in the upcoming period, with particular emphasis on child health and survival, development and education, protection, and participation in the public sphere. The strategy strives to prioritise fairness in ensuring that children of underprivileged families in rural and Upper Egypt have 65