UN Authority Figures

UN Women, Executive Board: Egypt

An Egyptian pro-democracy activist claims she was tortured and beaten after being arrested amid a sweeping government crackdown.
Source: The Washington Post, October 14, 2019. Photo: Egyptian soldiers (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Mission of the UN Women: "The main roles of UN Women are: To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms; To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society; To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress." (UN Women website)

Term of office: 2022-2024

Egypt's Record on Women's rights:
"Social and cultural barriers...limited women's political participation and leadership in most political parties and some government institutions... . Spousal rape is not illegal... Domestic violence was a significant problem. The law does not prohibit domestic violence or spousal abuse, but authorities may apply provisions relating to assault with accompanying penalties. The law requires that an assault victim produce multiple eyewitnesses, a difficult condition for domestic abuse victims. Police often treated domestic violence as a family issue rather than a criminal matter... Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): FGM/C is illegal, but it remained a serious problem. According to international and local observers, the government did not effectively enforce the FGM/C law... Local media, especially in Upper Egypt, occasionally reported on incidents where fathers or brothers killed their daughters and sisters in alleged "honor killings" after they discovered they had premarital or extramarital relationships. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment remained a serious problem... Media and NGOs reported sexual harassment by police was also a problem, and the potential for further harassment further discouraged women from filing complaints... Women did not enjoy the same legal rights and opportunities as men, and discrimination was widespread. Aspects of the law and traditional societal practices disadvantaged women in family, social, and economic life. Women faced widespread societal discrimination, threats to their physical security, and workplace bias in favor of men that hindered their social and economic advancement."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights 2020, Egypt)

Archive