On September 10th AICS Cairo staff participated to the graduate ceremony of pioneering mothers from the "Integrated Development Classes" organized during the last quarter and attended by a total number of 713 woman. An average number of 100-120 women will attend the celebration and will be awarded a package containing a fan and some feasibility materials of the program, out of which 20 women will be honored with a certificate of appreciation. This activity is part of the Program “Rights of Minors and the Family Empowerment in the Fayoum Governorate” . The Programme aims to establish an integrated model of development in the Governorate of Fayoum, whose data, information and evidence can be used by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) for the identification and formulation of appropriate strategies to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) for children at the local level. The Programme has two components (central and local) and promotes a “bottom - up” approach. At the local level (Fayoum Governorate), the Programme envisages an empowerment action to improve the socio-economic conditions of selected families and reduce practices and phenomena such as female genital mutilations, child marriages, school drop-out, child labour, non-registration at birth, and maternal and infant malnutrition. Micro-credits to selected families are included among the activities. At the central level, the experience gained will give rise to indications and guidelines to be taken into account by NCCM when implementing the NAP in other parts of the country. Furthermore, NCCM, with the support of the programme, will refine its capacity to monitor and evaluate ongoing projects dedicated to the protection and promotion of children's rights, as well as its institutional ability to formulate and elaborate local action plans, in coordination with other relevant ministries (Social Solidarity, Health and Population, Education, Interior, Local Development).
