Egyptian human rights delegation, OHCHR official discuss women situation

CAIRO – 12 November 2019: A delegation from national human rights entities met on Tuesday with an anti-violence official from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where they discussed the situation concerning violence against women in Egypt.

The OHCHR official said the commissioner planned to make an official visit to Egypt in the second half of 2020, at the invitation of the Egyptian government, to review the human rights situation in Egypt.

She lauded Egypt's cooperation with the commissioner by responding to the latter's queries on some of the cases.

The Egyptian delegation included Noha al-Ma'moun, head of the pro-women initiative "She and The Society," and Ayda Nour al-Din, head of the Women and Development Association.

The delegation highlighted major cooperation between human rights organizations and the Egyptian government, especially following the issuance of the new law for organizing the non-governmental organizations.

"The new law of NGOs met the demands of the national human rights organizations concerning the need to back the civil society organizations' goals of development, and managed to make them a partner in the strategy to improve human rights situation in the North African country," the delegation said.

Concerning domestic violence, the delegation affirmed the state's political leader will to counter all forms of violence against women, referring to cooperation between the government and NGOs in terms of efforts to protect women against harassment and female genital mutilation (FGM), and to establish centers in universities and institutions to combat violence against women, in cooperation with the ministries of justice and interior and the National Council for Women.

Asked about cases of domestic violence in Egypt, the delegation said the Egyptian women currently suffer extreme social and religious thoughts backed by terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood group, which has opposed the rights of women throughout the past 80 years.

The delegation added that the MB group has worked to spread its radical thoughts and misconception inside Egyptian families.

It also affirmed the civil society organizations' support to the state's efforts to renew the religious discourse and eliminate extreme religious thoughts, in an effort to improve the situation of women.