Egyptian women in 2024…continuous achievements with the support of political leadership and a national vision for progress
Egyptian women continued during the year 2024 to achieve exceptional achievements that reflect their strength and determination to create a better future. These achievements came as a result of the great support of the political leadership, which paid special attention to empowering women and preserving the gains they have achieved in various fields, whether in politics or Economy, education, or culture, as Egyptian women have proven to be an essential partner in building the nation, driven by a leadership vision that believes in their pivotal role in achieving sustainable development and shaping a prosperous future. For Egypt.
The year 2024 witnessed the successive appointment of women to leadership positions in the country, including the issuance of a presidential decree appointing Counselor Amal Ammar as President of the National Council for Women, the first female judge to preside over the Council. Successor to Dr. Maya Morsi, who was appointed to the position of Minister of Social Solidarity, which is an affirmation of the political leadership’s confidence in its capabilities to achieve success in all the files entrusted to it. To it.
The Egyptian state believes that the sustainable development goals will not be achieved without achieving real empowerment of women and the combined efforts of all ministries, agencies, institutions and partner agencies, and in this regard, the year 2024 witnessed the completion of Implementing programs and initiatives aimed at enhancing the economic empowerment of women and initiatives to enhance the capabilities of women entrepreneurs. Work was done to integrate women into the largest development programs the country has witnessed in its modern history, such as the Decent Life Program and the “National Project.” for the development of the Egyptian family”, and the presidential initiative” A new beginning for building the Egyptian human being,
More than 44 production operators were provided with training on income-generating crafts for women. Launching an entrepreneurship and financial education program approved by the International Labor Organization, and holding a contract. Al-Dawwar awareness sessions reached more than 79 thousand sessions and reached millions of targeted people.
The National Council for Women succeeded in issuing more than one million and 300 thousand A national identification card for women, the implementation of more than 8 million door-knocking campaigns in the villages of Egypt, and the delivery of more than 71 million awareness-raising messages in all governorates of the Republic.
With regard to With health, the country launched a presidential initiative for women’s health, which received many international praises thanks to its proactive achievements in early detection of breast cancer, as the number of periodic visits for early detection exceeded 50 million visits and provided services to more than 30 million women, with more than 30 thousand cases diagnosed, reducing the percentage of late cases from 70 to 30%, and reducing the diagnosis period. Egypt also launched the second edition of the World Conference on Population, Health and Human Development under the slogan “Human development… for a sustainable future.” It included dialogue sessions to discuss the state’s efforts to promote women’s health.
Regarding women’s empowerment, the initiatives to empower and invest in girls were sponsored by Mrs. Intisar al-Sisi, wife of the President of Republic to promote investment in girls through my program " bang" And “Nora” , which works to create a dialogue with girls to enable them to express themselves and train them on topics related to health, education, protection from violence, and enhancing their leadership methods. More than eight thousand girls from the ages of 10 to 14 years were reached in the Noura program in Assiut and Sohag governorates, and it is ongoing. Working to reach millions of girls in all governorates of the Republic.
In the context of the success achieved by the “Noura” program, At the end of the year, the Council launched the “Noor” program. It is directed to boys, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund, with the aim of empowering and integrating boys into society. It aims to reach in its first phase 2,500 boys in the governorates of Assiut, Sohag, and Beni Suef.
Egypt hosted in November Past the activities of the World Urban Forum in its twelfth session, which was held under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of the Republic and under the slogan “Everything starts locally – let’s work together for cities and communities.” Sustainable" It included allocating sessions to empower women.
With regard to the file of women’s laws, the Egyptian state has approved many laws supporting women in all fields over the past years, and the year 2024 witnessed the ratification by President Abdel Fattah. Al-Sisi approved Law No. 19 of 2024 regarding caring for the rights of the elderly, which aims to protect and care for the elderly, both male and female, and ensure their enjoyment of all social, political, health, cultural, recreational and other rights, and to provide The necessary protection for him, the enhancement of his dignity, and the provision of a decent life for him.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also ratified Law No. 155 of 2024, relating to the approval of the insurance policy against the risks of divorce, which includes an article An unprecedented law obligating the husband to pay an insurance amount under the “divorce risk insurance” clause. The year 2024 also witnessed President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s ratification of Law No. 155 of 2024 regarding unified insurance, and the law stipulates that the provisions of this law shall apply. The law on insurance and reinsurance activities and related insurance services, professions and activities.
The President of the Republic issued in the year 2024 His directives to the government to review and implement the principles of gender equality in benefiting from banking services without discrimination, developing the care economy as an area available for women’s work, providing financing to women with the lowest conditions and guarantees for establishing small and medium enterprises, and financial awareness of financial inclusion programs for women in rural and remote areas.
With regard to the file of eliminating violence against women…many achievements were achieved during the year 2024 to develop a referral system and expand violence protection units in universities and university hospitals. The number of these units has reached 42 units in universities, and 15 women’s safe units have been established in university hospitals so far.
A new partnership was launched between the National Council for Women, the French government, and the United Nations Women to establish the combined unit for protection Women from Violence To address the challenges that women and girls face when reporting cases of violence, through the "Combined Unit for the Protection of Women from Violence" And support in enhancing accessibility for women and girls with disabilities in these units.
The establishment of the “Combined Unit for the Protection of Women from Violence” had been announced. In 2021, pursuant to a decision from the Council of Ministers, which included establishing a pilot unit in Cairo, and replicating it in other governorates to enhance coordination of response and referral services, and in implementation of the Prime Minister’s decision to establish the combined unit to protect women from violence in Cairo, the National Council for Women is coordinating where services will be provided on providing Reports to the police, legal and medical assistance, forensic services, and temporary hosting centers for women and girls who are survivors of violence.
The National Council was keen to protect women in all Fields, including the transportation and tourism sector, where the Raml Tram Station in Alexandria was designed after its rehabilitation to provide comprehensive access for women with young children and people with disabilities, in addition to organizing awareness campaigns against harassment, capabilities programs for employees in the transportation sector, especially women, and workshops to introduce the harassment reporting system. And combating violence against women for workers in this sector and decision-makers in the transportation sector.
The National Council for Women, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, is also implementing a project To support the creation of a safe work environment for women in the tourism sector in Egypt, in partnership with the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development – Spanish Cooperation in Egypt, with the aim of creating a safe, supportive work environment for girls in the field of tourism and hospitality to ensure non-discrimination and provide the opportunity without restrictions for female employment. p>
The complaints office of the National Council for Women receives women’s complaints according to its specialization and provides legal assistance and advice to abused women, as it includes a network of legal supporters, 80 A lawyer and a case manager, and 450 volunteer lawyers, in all governorates of Egypt, in addition to providing legal, psychological and social support services and referrals to the concerned authorities, in addition to the presence of reporting lines in the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministries of Interior and Transport, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, and the General Secretariat for Mental Health.
The Coordinating Committee for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt, co-chaired by the National Council for Women and the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood, continues its work to unify The efforts of all partners from the government, judicial authorities, law enforcement agencies, religious entities and civil society, whose efforts have resulted in a decrease in the rates of this crime for girls aged 0 – 19 years, from 21% in 2014 to 14% in 2021.
In the field of economic empowerment of women, the President of the Republic directed in his speech during the celebration of last Labor Day to increase employment rates Empowering women economically and ensuring reconciliation between their family duties and their work duties, especially since studies have shown that embracing the labor market in Egypt by larger proportions of women raises the national product by 34%, and it succeeded. The Egyptian state achieved a 252% growth rate in financial inclusion for women, and more than two million women benefited from financial education, entrepreneurship, and digital savings and lending in the national project for Egyptian family development. Partnerships with the private sector were also strengthened, as 104 companies committed to the principles of women’s empowerment, and 30 A company working to implement the equality seal standards.
The National Council for Women was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Fund The United Nations Population Agency in Egypt and the Norwegian Embassy in Cairo have a new joint project entitled “A comprehensive approach to population growth and enhancing population characteristics, by empowering youth, investing in girls, and addressing all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls, as Egypt is the first country to implement This model of public-private cooperation in Africa and the Middle East region, with the aim of helping governments and companies take decisive action to close economic gender gaps, increase women’s participation in the workforce, close gender pay gaps, and push more women into management positions. And leadership, and gender equality in the future of work.
The “Tahwisha” program succeeded. Or the digital savings and lending groups launched by the Council within the framework of the National Project for Egyptian Family Development during the year 2024 to reach more than 400,000 women in various villages in the governorates of the presidential initiative “A Decent Life” With the aim of achieving financial inclusion for women through the projects and job opportunities it provides and achieving empowerment and economic growth for women.
The National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Illegal Migration and Human Trafficking is also held with all ministries. Concerned and specialized national councils raise awareness programs for Egypt’s approximately 9 million guests on combating violence against women and evil trafficking, and on financial inclusion programs, financial education, and economic empowerment programs to prepare them for the market. Work.
The National Council for Women is also implementing the project “Addressing the Economic Drivers of Illegal Migration,” to provide an alternative to illegal migration by encouraging project development and creating job opportunities for women and youth in the governorates of Beheira, Gharbia, Luxor, and Minya, in addition to implementing awareness-raising activities to highlight the dangers associated with illegal migration. Legitimacy based on previous efforts.
And within the framework of the state’s keenness to support the empowerment of women in the field of intellectual property, to benefit from their creative assets. And innovation in achieving economic, social and cultural development. The first heritage craft bearing a collective trademark in Egypt, “Al-Talli Al-Suhaji”, was registered. In cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization “WIPO” And the choice of Queen “Meritamon” As its motto, an authentic Egyptian heritage craft, as a beginning, followed by other crafts in Sinai and other crafts in Siwa.
The President of the Republic also directed the government and the National Council for Women to establish (the Women’s Museum) Egyptian) to preserve the heritage of Egyptian women and document the development of women’s empowerment throughout ancient times within the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, and to allocate a headquarters to sell the products of the “Egyptian” exhibition. In the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, for women who are being trained within the framework of the National Family Development Project and the Project to Address the Economic Motives for Illegal Immigration.
The Palestinian issue has never been isolated from women’s attention. Egyptian, as the various international forums and conferences in which Egyptian women leaders participated in 2024 embodied continuous messages of solidarity with Palestinian women, highlighting their continued suffering under the aggression. Israel, demanding an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, without conditions or restrictions, for the sake of humanity and to make room for a more just and secure life for all Palestinian women, especially since women, by nature, are the most affected party in armed conflicts and wars, and what Palestinian women are experiencing. Now it is a clear picture of all the forms of suffering and challenges facing women in light of conflicts around the world.
In an attempt to shed light on the steadfastness of Palestinian women and their struggle in the face of… In light of injustice, the National Council for Women launched an art competition under the title “Our Lady of Al-Aqsa… Resilience and Struggle,” aiming to express the suffering of Palestinian women through plastic arts, in cooperation with the Fine Artists Syndicate and the Higher Institute of Art Criticism at the Academy of Arts.
