Despite some progress in realizing the rights to health and education in Egypt, women's access to education, to health services and to work are still relatively low compared to other lower-middle income countries in the Middle East and North Africa. There are still strong gender disparities that persist in health and education outcomes between men and women.
Making Human Rights Accountability More Graphic
CESR produced a fact sheet on the state of women's economic and social rights in Egypt. It was prepared in light of the upcoming 45th Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) session in January 2010 and Egypt's appearance before the Universial Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council in early 2010. This fact sheet highlights disparities between men and women in access to services and in outcomes related to the realization of health, education, labor and adequate standard of living rights.
CESR contributed to the NGO joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review, run by the Human Rights Council. CESR was part of a coalition of national and international NGOs who submitted a report on Egypt's compliance with its economic and social rights obligations. The report can be found here. The coalition of NGOs include:
- Association for Health and Environmental Development (AHED)
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory
- Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
- Housing and Land Rights Network- Habitat International Coalition
- Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement
- Center for Trade Union and Workers Services
- Land Center for Human Rights
- Awlad Alard Foundation for Human Rights
- Arab Foundation for Civil Society and Human Rights Support
- Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development
- Civic Monitor for Human Rights
- People's Health Movement
- Habi Center for Environmental Rights
Other NGO Reports
Other NGOs also contributed parallel reports on the Egyptian government's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
- Egyptian NGOs CEDAW Coalition
- Centre for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA)
- Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory: "A Portrait of Egypt - the squander of socio-economic rights in the implementation of the government development plan, 2002-2007"
- Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory: "Gender-Sensitive Budget in Egypt, 2002-2007"
Get Involved
To find out more about how the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) works, and how you can work with it, see CESR's manual on how to submit reports. There are also various legal means related to the UN to hold states to account for their legal human rights obligations.