Rania Zada
Egypt
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Egyptian women participated strongly in the Egyptian revolution, yet their status in decision-making did not improve, actually, women suffer from marginalization on all levels.
The representation of women in the People’s Assembly after the revolution decreased from 12% to 2%.
The question is why, although women in Egypt participate in civil societies and have roles in non-governmental institutions; they rarely get the opportunity to implant their influence in politics.
Women’s representation in elected assemblies at the local and national levels remains unsatisfactory even if on January 18, 2014, Egypt adopted a ‘new’ constitution. Article 11 could be considered the backbone of women’s rights as it underscores the twin-principles of equality and political rights, stressing the state’s responsibility to “ensure the appropriate representation of women in the houses of representatives, guarantee women’s right of holding public and senior management offices in the State and their appointment in judicial bodies and authorities without discrimination.”
There is an important international experience can be an example, the Czech forum.
It is founded in June 2004 by a small group of young people who did not agree with the worrying situation in the Czech Republic regarding the fact that women are underrepresented in all areas of public life; this forum is working to support women in the decision-making process.
The forum supports women who wish to play a political role or those who are activists in a particular field and it does not belong to any political party.
Civil society can work through some strategies:
– To communicate with the masses to familiarize them with these institutions.
– Networking between organizations and benefiting from the experiences of each organization
Egypt shall implement a quota system that emphasized parity between genders and ensured that party lists are submitted on that basis.
The presence of an efficient quota system would also serve to encourage women who are hesitant to enter the political sphere.
The future of women in Egypt remains uncertain and several political landmines and socio-economic obstacles hinder the road to equality.
The full paper is available in Arabic on the following link: https://bit.ly/2JwPgaN