The Goodwill Committee (hereafter the Committee) is an Egyptian governance body established within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to facilitate the amicable resolution of international parental child abduction cases. Since its establishment in 2000, the Committee has managed approximately 200 cases, with around 85 of these still considered active or unresolved.

International parental child abduction cases involve one parent taking a child to another country without the other parent’s consent or a violation of custody agreements. The sensitive nature of these cases, where the child’s best interests, safety and well-being are paramount, require streamlined international co-operation and governance mechanisms to ensure a timely and safe resolution.

This Strategic Review identifies opportunities to strengthen existing arrangements, proposing recommendations to support comprehensive reform in three areas: improving existing governance arrangements; considering multilateral ratification; and developing mechanisms to address systemic barriers and deter the occurrence of cases.

Central to all recommendations is to systematically embed consideration of the best interests of the child into the Committee’s mandate; and to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of abducted children are recognised and systematically considered in Committee processes. In this regard, recommendations include a revision of the Committee’s mandate to include the considerations of the best interests of the child, and the broadening of Committee membership to include the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and the Child Protection Bureau for Child Protection and Persons with Disabilities of the Public Prosecution Office (CPB-CPPD). These two dedicated child well-being institutions can provide expertise on best interests of the child, ensuring incorporation of evidence-based insights and a child-centered perspective.

The review includes additional recommendations on increasing public awareness of the Committee, streamlining access to the Committee’s services, developing the capacity of the Committee’s members and improving case management. Strategies to overcome systemic blockers, such as the use of child travel bans and the development of innovative prevention mechanisms, are also included. These recommendations are structured to help the governance of existing cases and to help prevent the emergence of new cases.

This review also includes a dedicated recommendation that the Government of Egypt (GoE) considers ratifying the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention), which is the primary multilateral governance framework on international parental child abduction. Ratification of the Hague Convention would represent a decisive step forward in Egypt's efforts to effectively strengthen the integrity and accessibility of its legal and justice system, and align with the governance framework used by all OECD Members.

All recommendations developed in this review are underpinned by the OECD’s Child-Friendly Justice Framework, the OECD Council Recommendation on Access to Justice and People-Centred Justice Systems, and the OECD Framework and Good Practice Principles for People-Centred Justice.

A comprehensive overview of all recommendations generated by this Strategic Review can be found below within “Chapter 1, Assessment & Recommendations”.