(Cairo 10th of April, 2018) ECWR issued its annual report on the Status of Egyptian women in 2017 titled “Women’s Year Is Not Finished Yet“. This report monitors the Successes and failures of women in 2017.
The President Abdel Fattah Al- Sisi declared 2017 a “Year of the Egyptian Woman”. This has entailed some presidential decisions in favor of women, such as the President has assigned the government to allow 250 million Egyptian pounds for the Ministry of Social Solidarity to provide early childhood services to the Egyptian mothers in order to go out to work and contribute to the building of the State. In addition to, the call for issuing a law that organizes the oral divorce cases, after the high rates of separation during the recent period.
In 2017, Ambassador Moushira Khattab was nominated for the post of director-general of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Many of political parties and Egyptian NGOs announced their support for Ambassador Moushira Khattab.
Furthermore, Women have been appointed in positions for the first time; Engineer Nadia Abdu as Beheira governor who became the first woman in Egyptian history to ever hold this post. Seven women were appointed as members of the board of directors in 5 banks; two of them in executive positions.
15 Egyptian women figures took over the leading positions of the 100 most powerful Arab women according to Forbes Middle East.
Egypt has witnessed remarkable progress on the level of women’s political empowerment. According to the 2017 Gender Gap Report, Egypt ranked in the 107th out of 144 countries. In comparison with the 2016 Gender Gap Report, Egypt was ranked in the 115th out of 144 countries, while it ranked in 136th according to the 2015 Gender Gap Report.
The economic empowerment of women also has witnessed a setback; according to The Economic Participation and Opportunities indictor of the 2017 Gender Gap Report, as Egypt ranked in the 135th out of 144 countries which is a decline from the 2016 as Egypt ranked in the 132nd and ranked in the 139th in 2015.
There was a rise in unemployment rates between women and men, as the rate of unemployment among men during the fourth quarter of 2017 was 7.8% while the unemployment rate for women during the same period was 23.3%.
The 2017 has witnessed a continuation of violence against women, as the Population, Housing and Establishment Census revealed that 118,900 women below the age of 18, the legal age, are married, got divorced or widowed. This refers to the high prevalence of underage marriage which resulted in 1189 cases were divorcees below the age of 18 while the number of widows was 1203.
Finally, what has been achieved in 2017 “Year of Women” is a significant progress in many fields. However, the situation of Egyptian women still needs more efforts at all levels to reach a level is worthy of Egypt and the role of Egyptian women.
In its four main sections; the report presents the most important developments in the status of women in various areas throughout 2017.
The report’s main sections are as follows:
First Section: Civil and Political Rights; it addresses women in cabinet reshuffle, women in positions for the first time, women and decision-making positions, women in the Press Syndicate elections, female members and the Parliament, Women and Judiciary.
Second Section: Economic and Social Rights; it includes women and labor, women and education, Egyptian women among the 100 powerful Arab women.
Third Section: Violence against Women; it presents the continuation of violence against women and the efforts of confronting it.
Fourth Section: ECWR’s Efforts; it addresses the efforts have been achieved by ECWR during the 2017 aiming to enhance women’s rights and support women to access to their rights.
Please read English Summary- the 2017 Women’s Status Report
