The Cabinet has approved the National Policy for Early Childhood Development and Care (2026), converting a set of scattered social programmes into a binding framework with responsibilities divided among government bodies through 2033, according to the policy document obtained by Al-Ghad.
اضافة اعلان
More than 34 partner entities carry implementation duties under the policy, organised into eight sectors: governance and coordination, labour and women's economic empowerment, health, education, social development and protection, security and rights, urban and local development, and finance and funding.
The framework is aligned with the Economic Modernisation Vision. Oversight sits with the Ministerial Committee for Women's Empowerment, which will track recommendations and monitor progress.
On the technical side, the National Council for Family Affairs is leading development of the implementation plan together with the National Early Childhood Team.
The plan, its matrix of roles and its performance indicators are due to be completed within three to nine months, a stage that includes identifying initiatives, costing them, and folding those costs into ministry budgets for next year.Field implementation then runs to 2033 without creating new institutional structures.
Mohammad Miqdadi, secretary general of the National Council for Family Affairs, told Al-Ghad that the council will prepare a guiding plan with partner institutions to help each body translate the policy into specific programmes and projects and build them into its strategic plans, annual plans and budgets. "This will ensure clarity of responsibilities, integration of roles, and avoidance of duplication of interventions," Miqdadi said.
The plan rests on measurable national outcomes affecting children and families directly, Miqdadi explained, with each outcome tied to a responsible body, a funded programme and defined indicators. Practical examples will cover expanding nursery services, supporting parents, early detection and intervention, including children with disabilities, and improving both service quality and the economics of care, in line with the Economic Modernisation Vision and the Child Rights Law.
What each sector is asked to do
Labour and women's empowerment sit at the centre of the framework. The Ministry of Labour is directed to increase field inspections and enforce Article 72 of the Labour Law, which requires private sector employers to provide nurseries or financial support for childcare for working parents.
The aim is to reduce unpaid care work and keep women in the labour market.
In health, the Ministry of Health is tasked with comprehensive care for pregnant women and children, vaccination, nutrition monitoring, and early detection of disabilities and developmental and psychological disorders from birth.
Education duties fall to the Ministry of Education, which is to expand KG1 and KG2 provision, develop early childhood curricula and train educators. The Ministry of Social Development, leading the social development and protection sector, is responsible for easing the licensing of institutional and home-based nurseries and for a system to professionalise social work, working with the Vocational Training Corporation to qualify caregivers.
The Public Security Directorate, through its Family and Juvenile Protection Department, is directed to strengthen rapid legal response to child abuse and neglect and to rehabilitate family environments. The Ministry of Local Administration and Municipalities is assigned the creation of child-friendly urban environments, adoption of "child-friendly cities" standards, and the development of parks and safe spaces.
Financing runs through the Ministry of Finance, which is to integrate operating costs into the annual budgets of the relevant ministries. The policy also calls for activating the Social Protection and Welfare Fund, which draws on revenues from fines and religious endowments, and for incentives and tax exemptions for private sector companies.
Priority groups
The policy directs programmes toward children facing compounded risk: those with health and developmental challenges or chronic disabilities, those in extreme poverty or exposed to exploitation and child labour, those at risk of family breakdown or without a breadwinner, orphans and children in vulnerable families, and children affected by displacement, refuge and unsafe environments.
Source: Al-Ghad, reporting by Hadeel Ghabboun
