The National Council for Women recently received French Ambassador for Human Rights Delphine Bourion. The meeting aimed to identify Egypt’s efforts in the field of women’s empowerment in all fields and discuss ways of cooperation between the two sides in this context, in the presence of Consultant Sanaa Khalil, Vice President of the Council, and Dr. Maged Othman, a council member, as well as the council’s work team.
Consultant Sanaa Khalil welcomed Ambassador Delphine Bourion to the Council’s headquarters, pointing out that the Council is a constitutional institution, and under its terms of reference, it has the right to propose laws and refer to them regarding women’s rights.
Khalil also referred to the role and efforts of the Legislative Committee of the Council, which works in light of the provisions of the Egyptian constitution and works continuously to purify legislation from any quality that violates the principle of equality, explaining that the committee has prepared many laws to empower women in all fields, according to an analysis of the content of complaints received by the Council as the main source for identifying deficiencies in legislation and laws, which is a continuous work based on constitutional principles and judicial rulings issued by Supreme Constitutional Court.
Furthermore, the deputy speaker highlighted women’s gains in the legislative file, the latest of which was perhaps a few days ago, the House of Representatives’ approval to amend the Nationality Law by granting women who acquired Egyptian nationality the rulings prescribed for men regarding their minor children, stressing that the current era is a golden age for Egyptian women.
Council member Dr. Maged Othman gave an overview of the Council and the date of its establishment and formation, pointing out that the Council works within the framework of the national strategy for the empowerment of Egyptian women in 2030, which is consistent with the goals of sustainable development for the year 2030.
He talked about its four axes and referred to the Egyptian Women Observatory, which aims to monitor progress and achievements in the file of empowering women and come up with important statistics and lessons learned to support this file.
For her part, Ambassador Delphine Bourion emphasized that women are half of society, as they represent more than 50% of the global population. Therefore, France believes that it is necessary to strengthen ways to enhance women’s empowerment and achieve their independence, as well as gender equality in all fields, given that achieving these goals serves development issues and achieves prosperity on all levels.
Moreover, she underlined the necessity to eliminate all forms of violence against women, which has a great impact not only on women but on society as a whole, in addition to working to support women’s participation in leadership, decision-making positions, and the labor market.
The French Ambassador for Human Rights expressed her happiness with the progress that Egypt has achieved in the field of women’s empowerment, expressing her keenness to support cooperation between the two sides in this field, stressing that France encourages the Egyptian authorities to continue their efforts in this regard, wishing the best for Egypt and Egyptian women.
