Cairo, October 27, 2025
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) expresses its deep concern regarding the results of the recent formation of the leadership offices of the fourteen specialized committees in the Egyptian Senate, announced yesterday, which completely excluded women from the position of “Committee Chairperson.” This comes despite the presence of 32 qualified female senators, marking a clear setback in the principle of women’s effective empowerment and weakening the effectiveness of legislative work.
The new composition revealed an imbalanced picture, as women were limited to the less influential positions:
- 0 women held the position of “Committee Chairperson” out of 14 committees.
- Only 3 women held the position of “Committee Deputy Chair” out of 28 positions.
- Only 3 women held the position of “Committee Secretary” out of 14 positions.
These figures indicate that only 6 female senators out of 32 obtained positions within committee leadership structures, while 50 male senators occupied 56 positions. This outcome entrenches a marginalizing view of women’s roles in actual decision-making positions, particularly in the specialized committees that form the backbone of legislative and oversight work.
ECWR stresses that this distribution sends a negative message suggesting that women’s presence in parliament may sometimes be merely symbolic, without being translated into real authority or influence over public policy through leadership positions.
Even more concerning is that such practices directly contribute to Egypt’s low ranking in international reports that monitor women’s status. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, Egypt ranked 101st out of 146 countries in the Political Empowerment Index. Continued marginalization of women from leadership positions within legislative bodies- as seen in the Senate committee formations -adds a new negative factor that could further lower Egypt’s future ranking and harm the country’s international image.
Moreover, this exclusion:
- Wastes national competencies: It overlooks the diverse expertise and qualifications of female senators.
- Weakens gender perspective: It deprives the legislative and oversight process of women’s viewpoints, although they constitute half of society and are directly affected by its laws and policies.
- Contradicts the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): It violates the principle of “leaving no one behind” and undermines the goal of women’s political empowerment.
Therefore, Nehad AbulKomsan, ECWR’s Chairwoman, calls for the following:
- The Egyptian Senate: To review the mechanisms for forming committee leaderships and adopt clear, inclusive criteria ensuring fair distribution of leadership positions, with due consideration for equitable representation of women proportionate to their numbers and qualifications.
- Political Parties: To nominate a greater number of women for leadership positions within the Senate and its committees, rather than confining them to secondary roles.
- Civil Society: To continue monitoring and evaluating the performance of parliamentary bodies in applying principles of fair representation and holding accountable those who marginalize women’s roles.
The presence of women in parliament is meaningless if it does not translate into effective participation and real influence. The exclusion of female senators from leading specialized committees represents a setback for national efforts to achieve full political empowerment. We call for turning the principle of “empowerment” from mere slogans into practical implementation, for the democracy of any nation is measured by the extent of women’s participation in decision-making, not merely by their presence.
