COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF EGYPT

The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has considered the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of Egypt on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Introducing the report, Forkhanda Hassan, Secretary-General of the National Council of Women in Egypt, said the level of education of women had been improved and the gender gap in education had been reduced rapidly at all levels. There was also a growing percentage of women in the labour market, an increasing number of women judges and the Prosecutor’s Office had twice been headed by women in the past years. Furthermore, planning at the national level had been enhanced and the participation of rural women had been facilitated through a needs assessment conducted by non-governmental organizations. The Government had also initiated projects to identify incidences of violence against women and a women’s complaint bureau had been established to identify and remedy issues relating to women’s participation. While Egypt had therefore visibly made major strides, much remained to be done and Egypt did not consider the process of reporting to the Committee as only a follow-up process, but rather as a great help in improving its commitment in this area.

Questions and issues raised by Experts during the interactive discussion included why such high rates of practise of female genital mutilation were observed despite the existing law; why the Government was apparently rather slow to enact a law on trafficking; whether there were any concrete legal provisions to introduce criminalization of buying sex from prostitutes along with those for incitement to prostitution; whether the Government planned to develop a new law on sexual harassment; and how it attempted to tackle the issue of domestic violence. Experts also welcomed the withdrawal of reservations on article 9 of the Convention, but noted that Egypt maintained very broad reservations on article 2, for which there were no substantive reasons. It had also been hoped that the delegation would announce today the accession of Egypt to the Optional Protocol to the Convention allowing individuals to complain directly to the Committee if their rights under the Convention were infringed.

In concluding remarks, Ms. Hassan said the questions and clarifications had been a means of exchange of opinions that could lead to a better situation for women and society more largely. Upon its return the delegation would start consultations with the Government, civil society and the media to share what had been discussed today. The delegation was impatiently expected at home because people in Egypt were very aware that it was their responsibility to achieve equality.

Also in some concluding observations, Xiaoqiao Zou, Committee Vice Chairperson, thanked the delegation of Egypt for the constructive dialogue. The Committee commended Egypt’s progress in implementing the Convention and the political will had been visible during today’s discussion. The Government had been working very hard. The Committee sincerely wished that the Government of Egypt continued its work on the withdrawal of the reservations on article 16 of the Convention and that it would sign the Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Egypt was thanked for its open and frank responses to the questions.

The delegation of Egypt also included representatives from the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Labour Force; the Ministry of Family and Population; both Houses of Parliament and the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The delegation further included members of the National Council of Women in Egypt; the Social Research Center of the University of Cairo; different political parties; independent experts; and NGO activists.

The next meeting of the Committee will be on Friday, 29 January 2010 at 10 a.m., when it is scheduled to consider the combined initial to third periodic report of Botswana (CEDAW/C/BOT/3).

Report of Egypt

The combined sixth and seventh periodic report of Egypt (CEDAW/C/EGY/7), which covers the period from 2001 to 2006, was prepared by the National Council for Women, a national mechanism established in 2000. During the reporting period, cooperation between the National Council for Women, government entities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was strengthened at the national level through the signing of cooperation protocols and joint activities designed to achieve gender equality. The National Council for Women also cooperated with various international and regional organizations, including the European Union, friendly Governments and the World Bank in the context of the Development Assistance Group-Egypt. To counteract discrimination against women, the National Council for Women has taken several measures, including the establishment of a CEDAW unit in its headquarters in 2001, the creation of equal opportunity units in the ministries to affirm women’s exercise of their right to constitutional equality, and the establishment of women’s committees in 20 of the 23 professional unions to counteract discrimination against women in the concerned professional fields. The National Council has further created an Ombudsman’s Office to receive and monitor women’s complaints; it has played an active, pivotal role in the promulgation of a number of Egyptian laws and decrees that are key to protect women’s rights; and it has established a national coordinating committee to combat and prevent trafficking in persons.

Regarding measures to address violence against women, the report notes that there is a national campaign to counter female circumcision; training courses are held periodically for law enforcement personnel; the National Council for Women has prepared an amendment to establish harsher penalties in laws concerning violence against women; and an ambitious national project has been launched to address the roots of violence against women by surveying and supplementing previous research. With respect to women’s human rights and political freedoms, in January 2004, Egypt established the National Council for Human Rights, which is chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Moreover, a media watch unit has been established to monitor programmes on all central, local and satellite television and radio channels, as well as a number of newspapers and magazines. The Ministry of Culture also undertakes diverse programmes intended to change negative social and cultural patterns. As to education, the Government is committed to a policy of providing the best educational opportunities for girls in Egypt by boosting the school enrolment of girls, and it is undertaking major efforts to eliminate any discriminatory instructional material content and to ensure that educational curricula include concepts concerning women's rights.

Presentation of Report

FORKHANDA HASSAN, Secretary-General of the National Council of Women of Egypt, introducing the report, noted that Egypt’s report had been prepared by experts from several fields, in collaboration with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The report had then been sent to key collaboration partners in order to allow them to provide complementary input. The report had also been presented to and discussed by Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Committees and Heads of Parties. The report was to a great extent an analytical paper that had also taken into account the Committee’s remarks on Egypt’s past reports under the Convention.

Turning to measures undertaken to improve gender equity and the rights of women, Ms. Hassan said that, since last month, the National Council of Women had been implementing an important campaign that included events and painting competitions related to the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Women in Egypt were also supported by the political will of the President of the Republic, both in his election programme where he promised to keep a percentage of the local councils for women or through presidential statements before Parliament that called for an end to discrimination against women.

The efforts of the National Council for Children and Mothers had contributed to improve the level of education of women, and the gender gap in education had been reduced rapidly at all levels. At the secondary level, the ratio of female to male students was even in favour of women. There was also a growing percentage of women in the labour market, an increasing number of women judges and the Prosecutor’s Office had twice been headed by women in the past years. There were also increasing numbers of women on university teaching staff. In the private sector, however, there was a need for further action to promote women’s employment, leading the Government to implement, among other measures, pioneer projects for equal opportunities. Several innovative companies had been rewarded for excellence in that field.

As for statistics on cases of rape, harassment and violence, Ms. Hassan said the report contained information in that regard, although there were of course cases that had not been included, as they had not been reported. On inheritance law, that was an area of civil law that required revision and the National Council for Women was working towards that end.

Turning to the many achievements of the past few years, Ms. Hassan mentioned the improved planning at the national level, as well as the comprehensive approach that had been adopted by the National Council for Women, enabling the participation of rural women through a needs assessment conducted by NGOs for the first time. A gender perspective had been taken up in assessment and evaluation activities. Further, the National Council for Women had developed new criteria to measure gender equality, as it was of the view that the existing indicators were insufficient.

To remove obstacles to women’s political participation, and considering the limited participation of the Egyptian woman in parliament, a number of institutions were carrying out projects to develop women’s political participation. The National Council had led a campaign calling for constitutional changes which would ensure a female quota in Parliament. A key project aimed at providing women with better chances in electoral processes had been implemented. A centre for the development of women’s skills had also been set up to improve the employment rate of women, to encourage women to start small projects and to provide e-learning knowledge and follow-up previous efforts in that regard.

Enumerating further achievements, Ms. Hassan noted that the Government had initiated projects to identify incidences of violence against women; women’s committees had been created in 20 of the 23 professional unions in order to counteract discrimination against women in those fields; and a women’s complaint bureau had been established in 2001 to identify and remedy women’s problems, including a help line allowing women to report instances of discrimination. In addition, a law dealing with trafficking in persons was on the agenda of Parliament and the National Council of Women had produced awareness-raising materials on the Family Code in a very simple and accessible way, which had been widely distributed by NGOs.

While Egypt had therefore visibly made major strides, much remained to be done. In conclusion, Ms. Hassan said that Egypt did not consider the process of reporting to the Committee as only a follow-up process, but rather as a great help in improving its commitment in this area.

Questions by Experts

In a first round of questions, Committee Members asked a number of questions on legal issues. How were laws evaluated when there were frictions between the principles of Sharia and the statutory law, and could more information be provided on the training programmes for the judiciary and on the enhancement of judicial mechanisms to allow effective implementation of the law? Also, was there any debate in Egypt on the interpretation of Islam in a manner that did not have discriminatory results for women?

Experts welcomed the withdrawal of reservations to article 9 of the Convention, but noted that Egypt maintained very broad reservations on article 2, for which there were no substantive reasons. Further, how did judges decide which parts of article 2 (general obligation to eliminate discrimination against women, in particular via legislation and policy) would be applied and which would not? Several years ago Egypt had said that there would be an imminent decision on the withdrawal of this reservation – could the delegation comment on that? It had also been hoped that the delegation would announce today the accession of Egypt to the Optional Protocol to the Convention (allowing individuals to complain directly to the Committee if their rights under the Convention were infringed). Were there any plans to do so in the future?

Concerning the National Council of Women, Experts asked for further information on the number of its staff, the status of that machinery, its position within the Governmental structure, and its resources. As for the Ombudsman within the National Council of Women, what happened if the Ombudsman’s recommendations were not followed by the Government? Also, had a general Ombudsman’s Office had been created?

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said – with regard to the issue of reservations – that Egypt was just about to withdraw its reservations to article 2 since the hitherto existing obstacles had now disappeared. As to reservations on article 16, the National Council for Women had requested deferral of that decision, as there were paragraphs where Egypt had a different standpoint, requiring further time for consideration.

On training, the delegation said that there was ongoing training of judges and police officers that was being carried out with support from the United Nations Development Programme.

Regarding questions on the Ombudsman, the delegation noted that the Ombudsman’s Office had not yet been established.

As to Sharia and women’s rights, there was an ongoing debate in government on the interpretation of Islam in a manner that did not have discriminatory results for women, the delegation affirmed.

Questions by Experts

In a second round of questions and comments, Experts asked, among other things, whether the Government was ready to prepare a comprehensive study on violence against women and elaborate on current measures given to victims, for example regarding shelter, psychological counselling and free legal aid. Experts also asked for information on the number of husbands who had benefited from a Penal Code provision according to which perpetrators could evade their sanctions if the actions had been undertaken “with good intent”.

Experts also asked why such high rates of female genital mutilation persisted, despite the existing law. Had there been any studies on female genital mutilation that could help to better strategize how to address that issue, and was there a timeframe regarding efforts to decrease the number of cases?

On human trafficking, Committee members said that the Government seemed rather slow to enact a law on trafficking – why was that? Also, did the new law on trafficking include provisions for the protection of victims, especially those trafficked across borders? Further, what measures were there to assist victims and to protect them; what was being done to prosecute perpetrators; did trafficked children received special protection; and what were the penalties for trafficking in comparison to other crimes?

On the rights of rural girls and women, how did the Government curb their exploitation and what had been done specifically on the issue of rich foreign men abusing such girls? Further, what measures had the Government undertaken to protect street girls from all forms of violence? Experts also asked whether the Labour Law covered domestic workers, including protection from exploitation from agencies that recruited for employers; whether the Government planned to develop a new law on sexual harassment; and how the issue of domestic violence was tackled and if a new law in this area was contemplated? As for prostitution, Experts asked if there were there any legal provisions to criminalize the buying of sex from prostitutes, along with those for incitement to prostitution; whether information regarding convictions related to such criminal offences was stored; whether there were programmes to raise awareness on the dangers of prostitution; and if there were any exit programmes for prostitutes wishing to change their lives.

Response by Delegation

On female genital mutilation, the delegation observed that that practice was prohibited in Egypt. However, it was a historical tribal tradition that was difficult to eradicate. There seemed to be some confusion in regard to statistics in this area. The background behind the statistics needed to be borne in mind, since a 2007/08 national survey had highlighted a big transition and generational gap between the married group and younger girls. Furthermore, Egypt had made significant efforts regarding eliminating female genital mutilation, including banning doctors from practicing female genital mutilation, starting in 1996, as well as the implementation of bottom-up campaigns to provide the population – and notably the rural population – with key information in this area. There were studies on this subject, which had highlighted that it was a problem that needed to be tackled. Nevertheless, there were some signs that the Government’s efforts were making progress: following the death of a female genital mutilation victim media reports had triggered a public debate in which many persons said they considered female genital mutilation as a public crime rather than a social norm. The year 2008 further saw the introduction of a law on female genital mutilation and Egypt would remain committed to combating that issue.

As for questions on trafficking in persons, the delegation said Egypt had drafted the law in a very integrative manner and produced a document that dealt with the phenomenon in all its aspects. The law had taken some time to draft because extensive studies had been conducted to ensure that it would be a fact-based law that took into account actual needs. Egypt’s international treaty obligations would also be reflected in this legislation.

As for corporal punishment and domestic violence, the delegation said that Egyptian legislation criminalized any crime committed, whether inside or outside the home. Even a husband’s insults towards his wife were morally inappropriate according to the principles of Islam.

Responding to questions on sexual harassment, the delegation said that a draft law taking account of all the Committee’s concerns and comments had been submitted to Parliament.

Persons prostituting themselves were in fact punishable although those who incited to prostitution would be penalized more severely. More efforts on the international level were needed to combat trafficking, which was also of concern to Egypt.

Questions by Experts

In a third round of questions, Committee Members noted, with regard to cases of adultery, that both the punishment and the burden of proof was higher for women. What had been done to remedy that discrimination? Concerning female genital mutilation, did the Government offer such practitioners the possibility for alternative work? And on the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, could it be taken that Egypt’s withdrawal to article 2 would contribute to the accession to the Optional Protocol? Finally, what proportion of the Committee to Combat Human Trafficking were women, and was there any collaboration with NGOs?

Response by Delegation

Responding, the delegation said that the law on adultery was currently being reviewed, as it was indeed discriminatory. As to female genital mutilation practitioners, while 85 per cent of all cases had been conducted by some sort of health professionals not requiring specific help to substitute for loss of business, work had been done with barbers and other practitioners to provide them with alternative work.

The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking included many women, the delegation said.

As to Egypt’s accession to the Optional Protocol, there had been work on that but the legislative and other bodies still needed to be convinced, among others because this would affect the national competencies, and the effects of acceding thus needed to be well studied.

Questions by Experts

Committee members further said that there were not so many women in Parliament, and with such high rates of women with excellent qualifications, women should hold more seats in Parliament. The initiative allowing women to hold 64 seats in Parliament was commendable, but what percentage was this regarding the overall number of seats in Parliament? Similarly, there was a great choice of women who could be appointed to ministerial posts. Subsidies to parties providing for party-internal gender equity should also be discussed. If Egypt waited too long regarding women’s participation, the resulting situation could become an impediment. Committee Members hoped that Egypt would make great progress in this regard.

Experts further said that they had received information according to which it was in some situations impossible for partners in marriage to pass on their nationality to their partner. Similarly, Egyptian women reportedly could not pass on their citizenship to their children – was this information correct, and what measures had been taken to remedy this situation?

Response by Delegation

Responding, the delegation said that women’s participation in political life in Egypt was not bad and, regarding membership in political parties, stood at approximately 17 to 18 per cent. Women had also participated in electoral lists and 41 per cent of voters were women, which was a very high percentage. However, in local assemblies there were just over 2,000 women in 2008 and there were only 4 women in leadership positions in local governments. The delegation said that what prevented women from reaching Parliament was not the Constitution but the culture; in Egyptian culture there was a reluctance to allow women into Parliament; this was however a democratic result. Women applicants for high-level Government positions were also very few but efforts to tackle this had been implemented and Egypt had prepared several draft laws for when the current two-year quotas on women’s participation came to an end. The National Council for Women had also made efforts to make more fundamental changes regarding the political participation of women. The delegation hoped that it could provide more positive results in this regard when it addressed the Committee the next time.

The delegation also said that Egyptian wives could pass on their nationality to their husbands, but only after a certain period in order to ensure that it was a genuine marriage. There were also certain criteria which needed to be met. Responding to another question, the delegation said that there were not yet any female family judges.

Questions by Experts

In a further round of questions, Experts noted, among other things, that education in Egypt was only compulsory at the lower levels. Was this an option allowing girls not to receive sufficient education? How could elimination of discrimination in the form of overt or covert gender-bias regarding topics of study be achieved, Committee members further asked, also requesting the delegation to comment on the challenges noted in the report regarding the provision of education for rural girls. Further information was also requested on the contradiction among efforts to review education curricula to ensure that they became gender-sensitive which was, according to the report, conflicting with cultural elements.

Committee members were also concerned about the low number of women in professional educational bodies and research institutions – what temporary special measures, including quotas, were planned in this regard? And why did the labour code exclude domestic service workers, including foreign workers? Was the Government of Egypt engaging in a discussion on the protection of these women, and was a review of the labour code on the Government’s agenda to remedy such issues, Experts asked.

Further, since Egypt’s last report, new legislation in the labour market had been implemented, but information provided by the International Labour Organization suggested that equal work was not remunerated on an equal basis among men and women. Could the delegation comment on this? Moreover, since women’s rights in the workplace were often infringed due to employers disregarding existing legislation, how would more effective protection be guaranteed for this group of persons?

Available data also highlighted difficulties regarding the family planning methods offered in Egypt. Although health care was of course very expensive and its implementation very challenging, providing for that was an important obligation placed on the Government - was there a timetable for establishing more family planning centers? On abortion, did the exemption of criminalizing abortion only apply to avoid harming the mother’s health, or did also apply to rape victims? Experts further asked whether there existed recent information on the practice of abortion in informal health facilities, including on the magnitude and consequences thereof in Egypt, and what had the State party been doing about this. Moreover, what was the number of women who had been judged for illegal abortion, and was abortion really conducted in cases of risks to the mother?

Did health education also encompass the issue of sexually transmittable illnesses, Committee Members further asked, also requesting information on whether NGOs were allowed to provide sexual education to the population? And how had staff teaching sex education in schools been trained. What had been undertaken to tackle the fact that condom use among partners in marriage was rare, often because of lacking willingness on the side of men? And were men therefore particularly included in sensitization projects? And, although currently significantly lower than in other African countries, HIV infection in Egypt, particularly among men having sex with men, may spread if appropriate measures would not be taken. What measures did the Government undertake in this regard?

The fact that some rural women lacked national identification cards was also of great concern to the Committee. Did the Government have a plan in this regard, and if so, what was the timeframe for its implementation? As rural women were also not very aware of their rights, did the Government have any plans or had it undertaken any training or sensitization campaigns to inform them of their rights? Further, as many men moved to urban areas or abroad, did the Government have statistics to document this evolution.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said – with regard to education – that statistics suggested that major improvements had been made in remedying the gender gap; even comparing the data of 2005 and that of 2008 highlighted this, and at the primary and preparatory stage, the net gender gap was almost absent. In Egypt, women enrolled in schools stayed in schools, leading to higher men than women drop-out rates. Problems in this regard in fact existed, but only in specific regions, including Upper Egypt. The Government therefore implemented geographical targeting techniques, laying down all villages in terms of health and education in order to take well-focused action. There was also another programme on conditional monetary grants to support poor families, provided that they sent their children to school. Further, although some governates had reported that they did not have any illiterates, steps had also been taken to change the literacy law.

Turning to gender-segregation across university subjects, the delegation said that girls might not chose a faculty or another because they were of the view that it could be difficult for them to work in that respective field later on. As to women academic staff, women were even better represented than men in some positions. The educational curriculum were also under review, and there had been some progress in making them more gender sensitive, although further progress was needed.

On family planning, the delegation said that according to a recent survey, 100 per cent of Egypt’s women knew about family planning; the issue was rather that of having access to services, which had however been tackled by Government. Emergency family services - such as the emergency pill - were also available, but not promoted as a method of contraception. Religious leaders also played their role, and had been regularly trained on family planning issues. On abortion, the delegation said that the basic principle in Islamic Sharia obliged Muslims to protect life, including that of the fetus. Nevertheless, abortion was allowed if conducted for the mother’s safety. For rape and incest cases, there was also a Fatwa or religious edict making abortion legal under these circumstances.

On HIV/AIDS, the situation was closely monitored by Government and a number of strict measures had been taken on that issue, the delegation said. Awareness-raising on HIV/AIDS was included in the curriculum of family planning clinics, and one of the most important measures taken was to include sex information in curriculums of advanced education institutions. Medical services for people living with HIV were also provided in numerous hospitals and anti-retro viral therapy was available. The national programme to restrain the spread of HIV/AIDS further trained doctors, service providers, social workers and the public at large. It was also important to speak openly about HIV/AIDS in the media as it played an important role.

The delegation further said – with regard to domestic workers – that it was not true that Egyptian law did not provide any protection for domestic workers; foreign domestic workers were protected by the Labour Code and Egyptian domestic workers were covered under the Legal Criminal Code. There was also legislative action undertaken to further protect this category of workers. However, in several cases the abuse was not perpetuated by the employer of foreign domestic workers, but by the latter.

On small and medium enterprises, there were various incentives in this regard to facilitate gender equity, including procurement incentives. The Government had also led an initiative encouraging private enterprises to treat women more equally in terms of hierarchical position, pay, and career perspectives.

The delegation also said, on rural women, that initially rural women were conceptualised as one category. After the International Labour Organization issued the definition of a rural woman, however, that category had been changed, differentiating between rural women who were home workers, agricultural workers, and others. This had significantly facilitated further work with rural women. Rural women meeting specific criteria were also given some financial credit and rural women generally had become part of the strategy of the Local Development Ministry. At the time of the bird flu, their income possibilities had also been diversified to help them face the difficult situation. The Ministry of Local Development had also requested the building of over 250,000 house toilets, benefitting women among others. As to birth certificates, they had been provided to rural women and the issue had been followed-up. On women in academic positions, Egypt was committed to improve this situation.

Questions by Experts

Committee Members further asked, among others, what the reality was regarding the procedure men and women had to undertake to get divorced? And what steps had been taken to eliminate any discrimination? As for alimony and maintenance, there was an issue of elderly, divorced women who were not covered; could the delegation provide information on this? On informal marriages, some people did not register their marriages, and women sometimes lacked the necessary papers needed for formal marriage – what had the Government undertaken in this regard?

On reservations to articles 2 and 16 of the Convention, Egypt’s argument that the privileges offered to women under Sharia law might need to be withdrawn if the reservations to the Convention were withdrawn was an incorrect assumption. The Government was urged to conduct research on women following divorce, and it was suggested that there was nothing in the Sharia that prohibited the sharing rights of men and women.

Response by the Delegation

Responding, the delegation said that every woman had her own assets on her own name. It was only with her approval that her assets were registered under the name of her husband. In case of a divorce, these assets would be reverted to the woman. The delegation further said that article 16 of the Convention consisted of 7 or 8 paragraphs, some of which were fully approved by Egypt, whilst the others still needed further discussion. Egypt could already withdraw its reservations to article 16 for some paragraphs whilst it would ask for further explanations on the others. On adultery, there was no difference between men and women if adultery was committed.

Concluding Remarks

In concluding remarks, Ms. Hassan thanked the Committee members. The questions and clarifications were a means of exchange of opinions that could lead to a better situation for women and society more largely. When it returned, the delegation would start consultations with the Government and civil society and the media to share what had been discussed today. The delegation was impatiently expected at home because people in Egypt were very aware that they were responsible to achieve equality. In concluding, the delegation of Egypt thanked all Experts and NGOs, especially those who had been critical.

Also in some concluding observations, XIAOQIAO ZOU, Committee Vice Chairperson, thanked the delegation of Egypt for the constructive dialogue. The Committee commended Egypt’s progress in implementing the Convention; the political will had also been visible during today’s discussion. The Government had been working very hard and the Committee sincerely wished that it continued its work on the withdrawal of the reservations on article 16 of the Convention and that Egypt would sign the Optional Protocol to the Covenant. It was hoped that the delegation of Egypt would submit the concluding observations to the Government and civil society. Finally, Egypt was thanked for its open and frank responses to the questions.