Soha Hossam, a 33-year-old pharmacist, had been too discouraged by her first marriage to think of marrying a second time. Hossam divorced in 2015, and although she has received marriage proposals since then, she could never bring herself to take the plunge a second time.

But a recent government program called Mawada (Affection) may help change her mind. The program, which aims to prepare would-be couples about challenges and difficulties of matrimony, will provide 30 hours of courses to young people on the problems of adaptation they may encounter as they try to harmonize their lives and on possible ways to cope, communicate and understand each other.

“When I think of how [unprepared I had been the first time], I think this is a very important program that every would-be couple has to go through. It would greatly contribute to helping couples deal with their problems at the beginning of their marriage or throughout,” Hossam told Al-Monitor.

Egypt’s ever-increasing divorce rates have long troubled the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, himself a vocal critic of divorce. Nudged by the president, various state bodies have launched a number of programs to keep Egyptians married ranging from establishing a special marriage counseling unit in Al-Azhar — the country’s highest authority on religion — to pre-marriage counseling, which would include sexual education for would-be couples by Dar al-Ifta, an institution that studies and interprets Islam.