The Agriculture Ministry has announced that all public parks affiliated to the Ministry would be open for free on the occasion of Orphan's Day, MENA reported.
Egyptian Orphan's Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday of April.
The day was originally founded in 2004 by Dar Al-Orman, one of the largest charitable organizations in Egypt, to remind society of the country's many orphans, who are condemned to grow up parentless.
According to UNICEF estimates, orphans constituted about 1.7 million of the Egyptian population in 2009. Rising numbers of divorces and late marriages in Egypt have created a bigger demand for adoption, but the law has handicapped the process.
Adoption is forbidden by both civil and Islamic law in Egypt.
Islamic Law does not permit an orphan to take the family name of a non-biological parent as it stipulates that children should be named after their fathers. It rather permits foster parents, who can support the child financially and raise him or her in their home until puberty.
Foster parenting is permitted in Egypt by the Ministry of Social Affairs. To be able to adopt, applicant couples must prove their ability to provide the adopted child with security, both financial and social. Applicants must apply at the ministry's General Family and Childhood Authority, which refers the matter to its surrogate care department.
Prospective adoptive parents must be between 25 and 55 years of age. While there are no specific income requirements, prospective parents' joint incomes should be enough to cover the basic needs of the family, including the fostered child.
The number of children in the family should not exceed two, unless they are old enough to depend on themselves, according to the Social Affairs Ministry.
