The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights denounces women’s low representation in the new cabinet

The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) denounces the low representation of women in the new cabinet. The anticipated Egyptian cabinet reshuffle included one female minister among 10 new ministers who is Dalia Khorshid as Investment Minister, and only one woman as Deputy Minister out of 4 new deputies who is Dr. Nehal El Mogharbel as Deputy Minister of Planning and Administrative Reform.
With the addition of the new Ministry of public business sector to become a total of 35 ministers with only 4 female ministers, 3 of the 4 women were already in Cabinet. The 3 female ministers are Ghada Waly, Minister of Social Solidarity, Sahar Nasr, Minister of International Cooperation and Nabila Makram, Ministry of Immigration and Egyptians Abroad. This leaves women’s representations in the cabinet at 11.4%.
This low representation of women does not reflect women’s contribution to the economy, which is up to 30% in the formal sector and 70% in the informal sector. It shows how the governments turn a blind eye to competent women. It also can highlight how governments overlooked economic development reports that affirm women’s participation in decision-making limits corruption; and contribute to the optimum use of resources. Lastly, it underlines the lack of objective criteria in the selection of ministers.
This low representation implies that the statistics and international reports are overlooked as Egypt comes among the 10 worst countries in gender equality according to the Global Gender Gap report 2015 published by the World Economic Forum. This is considered a dangerous and alarming indicator.
It shows that the 2014 constitution is yet to be implemented, particularly Article (11) that stipulates:
“The State shall ensure the achievement of equality between women and men in all civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
The State shall take the necessary measures to ensure the appropriate representation of women in the houses of representatives, as specified by Law. The State shall also guarantee women’s rightof holding public and senior management offices in the State and their appointment in judicial bodies and authorities without discrimination.”
In addition Article (9) that states,
“The State shall ensure equal opportunities for all citizens without discrimination.”
Hence, ECWR calls for
– Setting clear objective acknowledged selection criteria for the Cabinet
– Implementation of women’s quota in all government and ministerial positions to reactivate Egyptian women’s participation and oblige decision makers to hire competent women and provide development opportunities for them.