News Press release

Egyptian Women in the 2011 Parliamentary Election First Phase “The Nomination Phase”

(Cairo, 30 October 2011) During the Nomination Phase of the 2011 Parliamentary Election, the ECWR Operations room which monitors the Parliamentary Election from a gender perspective has observed many abuses and violations which occurred against women and prevented some of them from being nominated.

Therefore, ECWR is organizing a press conference on Monday October 31, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. at Swiss Inn Hotel, El-Bahr El-A’azam. The conference will present a report regarding the Nomination Phase. This will include a follow up of all the nomination procedures, the partial arrangements, the legal procedures and the allocation of the symbol. The aim of the conference is to make sure that the nomination phase goes without any discrimination. It will also display the list of the female candidates at the individual representation level and at the governorates level.

It is worth mentioning that ECWR’s operations room started monitoring the election from a gender perspective in order to monitor women’s participation in the parliamentary elections at all levels of the election process.

The importance of monitoring the elections from a gender perspective can be summarized as follows:

  • Present an accurate account of women’s participation as voters and candidates through the field monitoring of the reality and the role of the concerned bodies whether Partisan or non-partisan.
  • Study the problems related to women’s political participation subjectively based on field facts and not just perceptions.
  • Provide practical information to all concerned people about the problems related to participation
  • Follow up the improvements regarding participation and influence the concerned authorities especially the political parties.
  • Study Egypt’s and other legal systems around the globe and analyze their influence on women’s political participation.