Within the framework of its interest in the issues of the poor and marginalized groups in the Egyptian society, and to complement its previous programs in this field, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights is preparing to launch a new development project entitled
“Integrated protection for the families of prisoners and detainees - integration and rehabilitation,” which lasts for three years, beginning on the first of March 2012 until the end of February 2015.
The project “Integrated Protection of the Families of Prisoners and Detainees - Inclusion and Rehabilitation” is implemented with funding from the Swiss “DROSOS” Foundation, which has been operating in Egypt since 2008. Drosos, since its establishment in Zurich in 2003, has been seeking to enable people in difficult situations across the world to live With dignity, and who takes responsibility towards themselves and their communities.
The project is being implemented in six administrative centers and neighborhoods belonging to the governorates of Cairo and Giza, which are the neighborhoods of al-Maasara, al-Basateen and al-Khalifah in Cairo, and Atfih Center and the neighborhoods of Imbaba and Bulaq al-Dakrour in Giza governorate, and the Maat Foundation cooperates in this with two NGOs, namely the Ishraqa New Society Association, and the Yalla Nashark Association for Community Development.
It is expected that at least 2,200 family members of prisoners and detainees will benefit directly from the project, which are among the most marginalized groups in society and the least in terms of the extent to which social, economic and legal aid activities and programs are directed to them, and approximately 400 adolescents and children will benefit from the project. In other families, social workers and psychologists in schools, family courts, and NGOs.
The project deals with the problem of the absence of an integrated approach to working with the families of prisoners and detainees. Despite the old and prominent social and economic problems that families of prisoners and detainees suffer, they have not received the integrated and planned treatment aimed at solving these problems radically, and efforts aimed at solving were limited to providing assistance In some cases, government agencies or non-governmental charitable organizations, as well as providing legal aid to the families of prisoners and detainees, which is what a limited number of Egyptian human rights organizations have done in recent years.
Therefore, the project “Integrated Protection for the Families of Prisoners and Detainees - Integration and Rehabilitation” will adopt an effective strategy in dealing with the problems of the target groups, as it will provide them with an integrated set of activities, including building a systematic database of the conditions and needs of this group, and helping them acquire the necessary professional skills to create opportunities Working and linking them to business institutions, as well as mobilizing community resources and motivating the community in order to provide opportunities for assistance and development to the families of prisoners and detainees, in addition to enabling children and children in these families to integrate into society, and to provide assistance and legal and family advice to the target group.
Maat is currently seeking to open channels of communication and cooperation with all societal parties (governmental and non-governmental) concerned with this issue and responsible for these families in order to maximize the opportunities to benefit from the project and enhance its expected positive effects.