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The absence of women's issues in voters programs in the next election

Land Center for Human Rights held, on Thursday, 5/8/2010, a workshop entitled "The absence of women's issues in the programs of voters in the upcoming elections" in the presence of 37 participants from different provinces from both upper and lower Egypt. The workshop consisted of two sessions: the first was chaired by Professor / Manal Tibi - Chairman of the Egyptian Center for Housing Rights. There were two speakers; Ms. Mona Ezzat, Journalist and researcher at the New Woman Foundation, and Ms. Mohamed Hijazi, lawyer and president of the rural friendship in Qaliubeyya, where both of them spoke at that session.
Ms. Mona Ezzat spoke at that session about the situation of Egyptian women and their rights to equality and dignity, and whether women's issues separate from the issues of society or not. At first, Ms. Ezzat spoke about women in the Egyptian constitution and she offered a number of articles in the Constitution that describes the equality guaranteed by the Constitution for women and its reflection of the multiplicity of roles in society.
Then, she illustrated the absence of the care by the society, and life in general, towards the multiple roles of women in terms of non care of the conditions of working mothers in many institutions where women work; like the failure to provide nurseries or failure to provide child-care leave ... Etc...
Ms. Ezzat also referred to the failure of the state to regard the issue of social gender in its different policies. For example, in the educational policy, we find that in some nomadic communities the State provide schools at the highest levels, but it does not take into account many dimensions such as lack of transportation, and the rule of customs and traditions which deny women going out for any reason, even education. So it is the situation with many other obstacles that had to be observed by the State when formulating the other different policies.
Ms. Ezzat noted that 23% of families have women as households, in the official statistics, while in some unofficial statistics the percentage is up to 30%, however, we are still dealing with the economic role of women without taking into account the multiplicity of roles and increased pressure.
Ms. Ezzat stressed that it is unacceptable to marginalize the proportion of 48.9% of the society and the proportion of women in society. Then she asked: Is the Personal Status Law a conflict between men and women, or it is for women and women's human rights organizations only.
She pointed out that there are many countries that took some positive attitudes for some of the issues of personal law such as adultery and polygamy, including Turkey, Tunisia, however, we are still dealing with the subject negatively and refuse to put forward a broad community debate to discuss these topics.
She stressed that we need representatives who can regard the gender, where the government has adopted a so-called budget responding to the type of any responsive to the needs of women and men. Although we find that, for example in health projects, 39% goes to the women while 61% for men.
Then, Ms. Manal Tibi spoke, where she wondered: When we talk about the participation of women, are we looking for quantity or quality? i.e.: Do the women affect the rights of women?
She added that the NDP's national conference, several years ago, talked about the rights of citizenship, and since then it keeps singing and talking about citizenship. But talking about citizenship without the ability to provide competition represents oppression to women.
Then, Mr. Mohamed Hejazy submitted a paper entitled "Egyptian women's rights and programs for voters in the upcoming elections are required to ensure equality and a dignified life for women?" He began his wondering: Will all candidates for seats reserved for women "quota", or even a fraction of it, be rural women who are actually defending their rights and is a real change? Then, will there be a real election?
He pointed out that rural women do exist all over the governorates of Egypt with the exception of very few governorates, like coastal governorates, and rural women work and joined men in all aspects; in the field and home. He added that rural woman is a simple lady, who is not looking for the right or express her views, and thus she is exploited by other; this is shown clearly in the elections; she votes for candidates who do not talk about the women's problems or defend it. Meanwhile, the woman considers that what she does is a duty. Mr. Hejazy stressed that the work of rural women had an addition that has been calculated and added to the national income. He also pointed to negative discrimination against women in the Penal Code and the Law of Personal Status.
The second session was working groups on the role of NGOs in demanding electoral programs include women's issues and community and their application.
Attendees were divided into four groups; where each group addressed each of the problems faced by women in the society to come up with recommendations and action programs to be performed by participating NGOs, in order to incorporate women's issues in the programs of voters on the one hand, and attempting to change community culture, knowledge of rights and duties, to refine the ability of society and the electorate to choose candidates who represent their demands, and defend and requiring candidates to submit work programs include real community needs and monitor their implementation on the other hand.
The working groups have produced important recommendations for activating the role of civil society and NGOs to demand electoral programs include the real needs of society in general and women's issues in particular, as follows:
First: A group of political participation:
- Demand that the work of the poll the department to find out the most important problems that affect us and the problems of women in particular, and demand that a solution to these problems within the programs of candidates.
- Requiring candidates to submit work programs reflect the needs and demands of society and include women's issues.
- The claim as the work programs of the electorate a binding contract for the candidate shall be implemented and held accountable for items that were not implemented.
- Purification and review the voters list and activating the role of civil society organizations. II: Group inheritance:
- Amendment of the laws of inheritance on the basis of citizenship rights.
- That the distribution of inheritance by the judge to ensure the right of everyone in his inheritance.
- Activating the role of NGOs through:
- Raising awareness through seminars and meetings that are interested in gathering the right of women.
- Women's awareness of its right to legitimate inheritance.
- Community awareness of the importance of legislative amendments.
III: Women and agricultural work:
- Collective action is the solution leading to change.
- The idea of joint work of associations.
- Change the legislative structure.
- Independent trade unions.
- Adopting the political parties and encourage community initiatives.
- Activating the Federation of Egyptian peasants.
The role of civil society organizations:
- Fall down to the ground nationwide.
- Joint work between the centers and associations in the countryside.
- Culture, education and information through down to the villages and hamlets and activate what is inside the workshops to a racist society, males and females. Fourth: the multiplicity and wife beating:
- The importance of spending between husband and wife on everything in the marriage contract, which reduces the cases of divorce.
- Activating the laws protect a wife and guarantee their rights.
- Concluding a contract that combines civil contract and the religious one, because of the preference the civil contract than religious one between men and women.
The workshop ended up on the need to make a series of workshops and meetings in different governorates in order to raise awareness among women of their rights in political participation, and ensure that real solutions to women's issues within the programs of the candidates to ensure a decent life for women.
You can obtain a copy of the workshop from the headquarters of the center or our website