Cairo, September 12, 2021
Egypt has taken important steps to prepare a human rights strategy, as a large number of human rights organizations were consulted through discussion meetings, all issues were presented, whether at the level of civil and political rights or economic and social rights.
During the meetings, stakeholders and activists emphasized the importance of cooperation between the government and civil society.
Human rights stakeholders also spoke about concerns about restrictions on human rights organizations-NGOs- and targeting their activists and workers, the importance of allowing work freely to strengthen the partnership between civil society organizations, the government and all stakeholders to support the human rights system.
The discussions have resulted in important results, including the ruling that there was no need to file a lawsuit in case 173 of 2011; and the release of a number of political activists is an important beginning of a new phase in the field of supporting and strengthening the human rights system in Egypt, as well as the investigation of all cases related to the forced disappearance or extrajudicial killings and disclosing the results that confirmed the falsehood of these claims and the politicization of many cases.
The Strategy consists of 4 pillars as follows:
1st: civil and political rights.
2nd: economic, social and cultural rights.
3rd: the human rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, youth and the elderly.
4th: education and capacity-building in the field of human rights.
Each pillar deals with the most prominent strengths, opportunities, and related challenges, in order to determine the targeted results by making progress in three parallel and complementary tracks: the legislative development track, the institutional development track, and the education and capacity-building track in the field of human rights.
A time frame has been set for the implementation of the strategy, so that the process of its implementation begins since its launch in September 2021 and will continue for a period of five years, ending in 2026.
The speech of the President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, was reassuring, as he stressed that the basis is confidence in the ability to implement, and stressed the ability of the Egyptian State to accomplish in the human rights file, similar to many files, as well as the importance of follow-up and accountability for an essential step for the success of legislation.
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) stresses the importance of adopting a national strategy for human rights and the need to consider a number of urgent issues as a first step in the implementation plan, including:
- The necessity of enacting a law documenting divorce and not recognizing oral divorce.
- The need to consider cases of implementing judicial rulings for reasons related to returning women to their homes in the event of expulsion or protection from violence.
- Accelerating the issuance of a unified law to confront violence against women, including domestic violence.
- Accelerating the issuance of a law to protect victims, witnesses and persons who files a police report.
Nehad Abulkomsan, ECWR’s chairwoman, participated in the preparatory discussions for the preparation of the Strategy. Abulkomsan also participated in the launch of the Strategy, and emphasizes the following:
- The need to reform the Family Court and amend the Personal Status Law to guarantee human rights and the best interests of the child.
It is not acceptable for a woman and her child to be prevented from traveling through a single session by order on a petition, and to wait for a whole year in courts in order to obtain alimony for expenses in food and etc.
