Sanad is an Egyptian non-profit organization dedicated to offering innovative, hands-on solutions in the alternative care sector. Its mission is to improve the quality of life and open new possibilities for children and youth without parental care. Since its founding in 2008, Sanad has established itself as a center of excellence, becoming a trusted reference for stakeholders both locally and internationally.
Upholding its commitment to community impact, Sanad adopts a holistic approach to strengthening the alternative care ecosystem, focusing on the needs of its ultimate beneficiaries—children and youth.
Sanad's vision is a world where orphans are empowered to shape their own futures. Sanad's mission is to strengthen the alternative parental care system through standardization, research, certified training, and advocacy—ensuring every orphan realizes their uniqueness and potential.
Where they operate
Contact this organization about:
Organization Size
Headquarters Location
Cairo
Cairo Governorate
Egypt
Organization Type
Main Areas of Work
Economic Empowerment Project
This project supports care leavers in discovering their personal and professional potential, preparing for the labor market through vocational training, skills development, and entrepreneurship support to help them gain employment or start their own business.
Social and Community Empowerment Project
This project focuses on developing life skills among care leavers and creating safe spaces that foster inclusion and participation. It also provides mental health services, promotes healthy social relationships, and supports youth leadership and community engagement initiatives.
Foster Families (KAFALA Families) Empowerment Project
This project aims to empower foster families (KAFALA Families) to raise children based on healthy, safe, and child-centered practices by providing diverse training packages, continuous support, and specialized parenting consultations. It also creates peer support networks among foster families to facilitate experience sharing and mutual learning.
Foster Care System Governance and Quality Assurance Project
This project aims to standardize and enhance the implementation and monitoring mechanisms of the foster care system. It establishes criteria for selecting foster families, mandates pre-placement training, and collaborates with the Ministry of Social Solidarity and civil society organizations to develop and implement child protection monitoring procedures. The project promotes transparency, accountability, and effective oversight to ensure the wellbeing and safety of children in foster care.
Prevention of Re-institutionalization of Fostered Children Project
This project addresses the issue of children returning from foster families (KAFALA Families) to institutional care. It develops a unified intervention methodology based on in-depth analysis of the causes of foster care disruption. The project includes procedural guidance to ensure safe transitions for children between care settings and implements preventive awareness campaigns targeting prospective and current foster families about the risks and long-term impacts of foster care breakdown. It seeks to minimize disruptions and promote stable, family-based care.
Empowering Current Workers in Alternative Care Project
This project aims to improve the psychological well-being and professional capacities of current caregivers in residential care institutions and staff from the Ministry of Social Solidarity. It offers a range of workshops and trainings designed to strengthen their emotional resilience, enhance caregiving skills, and foster a supportive professional community. The initiative also promotes peer learning and sharing of best practices across the alternative care workforce.
Preparing New Practitioners in the Alternative Care Sector
This project seeks to strengthen the workforce in the alternative care system by offering a certified professional training program for new practitioners. It aims to build a pool of highly qualified and job-ready care workers to meet the needs of the sector. Additionally, the project focuses on raising public awareness of the critical roles these professionals play in supporting children and youth deprived of parental care.
We asked this organization to tell us a little more about their learning and knowledge sharing practices. Here is what they said
- Developing the National Quality Standards for Care withing Orphanages in Egypt which was adopted and mandated by the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) in 2014.
- Developing the New Kafala system in Egypt which was accredited and mandated by MoSS in 2019.
- Assisting MoSS in developing and drafting the alternative care law in 2021.
- Advocating for the After Care since 2019 and developing the After Care SoPs in 2025
- Empowering care leavers to voice their needs and propose solutions for the alternative care reform in Egypt.
- Developing the child and youth toolkit for independent living which was accredited by MoSS in 2023.
- Introducing the first internationally accredited vocational qualification by Pearson for caregivers working with children without parental care in MENA.
- Develop a road map for transforming orphanages in Egypt to family-based care which was approved by MoSS in 2022.
The above milestones were turning points in the Alternative Care sector in Egypt.
As an organization, Sanad engages in a continuous and multi-faceted process of reflection and evaluation to ensure our work is impactful, relevant, and constantly improving. This commitment is deeply embedded in our organizational culture and is primarily driven by our robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) department and our dedicated Research and Knowledge Management (RKM) department. Our data-driven approach is a cornerstone of this process.
The MEAL department focuses on:
- Continuous Monitoring: Tracking progress and making real-time adjustments.
- Rigorous Evaluation: Assessing effectiveness, efficiency, and impact through various evaluations.
- Accountability: Ensuring transparency and responsiveness to stakeholders.
- Facilitating Learning: Holding regular review meetings, lessons learned workshops, and disseminating findings.
The RKM department contributes by:
- Thematic Research: Conducting in-depth studies to inform strategic direction.
- Knowledge Synthesis: Curating insights from various sources into actionable knowledge products.
- Developing Learning Agendas: Guiding continuous inquiry and knowledge generation.
- Knowledge Sharing: Managing internal platforms and disseminating research externally.
As a data-driven organization, Sanad:
- Makes evidence-based decisions, prioritizing data over assumptions.
- Invests in robust data infrastructure and builds data literacy among staff.
- Employs adaptive management, adjusting strategies based on data insights.
In essence, Sanad's engagement in reflection and evaluation is not an afterthought but an integral part of our operational model. Through the synergistic efforts of our MEAL and RKM departments, underpinned by our commitment to being a data-driven organization, we ensure that learning is systematically incorporated into our practice, leading to continuous improvement and greater impact in our work.
Sanad recognizes that effective impact and continuous improvement require learning and knowledge exchange beyond our internal operations. We actively collaborate and participate in a multi-directional exchange of knowledge with other organizations, networks, and crucially, with children, families, and communities themselves.
Here's how we foster this collaboration and knowledge exchange:
1. With Other Organizations and Networks:
- Strategic Partnerships and Alliances: We actively seek and nurture partnerships with local, national, and international organizations that share our vision and values. This includes:
- Joint Program Implementation: Collaborating on projects allows us to combine resources, expertise, and reach, leading to more comprehensive and sustainable outcomes.
- Shared Learning Initiatives: We participate in and contribute to peer-learning networks, communities of practice, and working groups focused on specific thematic areas (e.g., child protection, social entrepreneurship, community development). This facilitates the exchange of best practices, lessons learned, and innovative approaches.
- Advocacy and Policy Influence: By joining forces with other organizations, we amplify our voice and collectively advocate for policy changes and improved practices at local, national, and regional levels.
- Technical Exchange and Capacity Building: We engage in direct technical exchange with other organizations, sharing our expertise in areas like organizational development, MEAL, and research, while also learning from their specialized knowledge. This includes providing training and support to other NGOs and local initiatives.
- Conferences, Workshops, and Forums: We actively participate in and organize conferences, workshops, and forums at various levels. These platforms serve as crucial opportunities for:
- Disseminating Our Work: Sharing our research findings, successful models, and lessons learned with a wider audience.
- Learning from Others: Gaining exposure to new ideas, emerging trends, and innovative solutions from other practitioners and experts.
- Networking: Building relationships with potential partners, donors, and thought leaders in our field.
- Research Collaboration: Our Research and Knowledge Management department actively seeks collaborations with academic institutions, research centers, and other organizations to undertake joint research projects. This enriches our evidence base, contributes to the broader body of knowledge, and allows for more robust analysis and dissemination of findings.
2. With Children, Families, and Communities:
Our commitment to a "nothing about them without them" approach means that the voices and experiences of children, families, and communities are central to our learning and knowledge exchange.
- Participatory Approaches: We employ participatory methodologies throughout our project cycle, from design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation. This ensures that children, families, and communities are not just beneficiaries but active participants and co-creators of solutions. This includes:
- Community Consultations and Needs Assessments: Directly engaging with communities to understand their priorities, challenges, and existing strengths.
- Child-Friendly Methodologies: Utilizing age-appropriate and engaging methods to gather insights and feedback directly from children, ensuring their perspectives are heard and valued.
- Feedback Mechanisms: Establishing accessible and safe channels for communities to provide feedback, raise concerns, and share their experiences with our programs. This feedback is systematically analyzed and used to adapt our interventions.
- Capacity Building and Empowerment: We invest in building the capacities of children, families, and communities to be active agents of change and to participate effectively in knowledge exchange. This includes:
- Training and Workshops: Providing training on relevant topics, such as leadership, advocacy, social entrepreneurship, and child protection, empowering them to drive change within their own contexts.
- Community-Led Initiatives: Supporting and empowering communities to lead their own initiatives and projects, fostering ownership and self-reliance.
- Facilitating Peer-to-Peer Learning: Creating opportunities for community members to share their experiences and knowledge with each other, fostering local solutions and collective action.
- Co-creation of Knowledge: We actively involve children, families, and communities in the co-creation of knowledge. This means:
- Documenting Local Wisdom: Recognizing and documenting traditional knowledge, innovative local practices, and community-based solutions.
- Joint Problem Solving: Collaborating with communities to jointly analyze problems and develop appropriate solutions, ensuring relevance and sustainability.
- Sharing Project Outcomes: Presenting project outcomes and evaluation findings back to the communities in accessible formats, encouraging dialogue and collective reflection on impact and lessons learned.
By embracing these collaborative approaches, Sanad ensures that our learning is not insular but is constantly enriched by diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise. This continuous exchange of knowledge enables us to develop more effective, relevant, and sustainable interventions that truly meet the needs of the communities we serve.