Cairo: Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Social Justice, attended by key figures including Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development, and several ministers responsible for health, planning, finance, social solidarity, and other critical areas. The meeting focused on the progress of the unified card system for distributing food subsidies, aimed at digitising services to enhance transparency and financial inclusion.According to State Information Service Egypt, the official spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, Counselor Mohamed Al-Homsani, stated that the meeting reviewed the executive status of the unified card system's implementation. This system is intended to replace the current food subsidy cards with a single smart card that will facilitate access to various government services. The unified card aims to direct support to those who truly deserve it while adding flexibility to the support system.The spokesperson f urther explained that the implementation began in Port Said Governorate as the initial phase, with approximately 42,000 cardholders now using the unified card instead of the traditional food subsidy card. The target completion date for this phase is March 2025. A live trial of the system was conducted in February 2025 on a random sample of citizens from different areas in Port Said, with varied entitlements. Approval was given for the launch of the second phase, which will activate the unified card system more broadly in Port Said. Post completion, the system will be expanded to another governorate before being rolled out nationwide.Counselor Mohamed Al-Homsani highlighted the importance of ensuring the security of the unified card and its capacity to accommodate future services. The new system will update the database of beneficiaries based on proposed social justice criteria. A proposal for these criteria was reviewed during the meeting, with plans to finalise them in a forthcoming session. Work is also u nderway to develop an electronic application for the system, which will allow citizens to register, update their data, and receive notifications related to their support entitlements.