Women's Rights in Egypt

March 8th was International Women's Day and with the celebrations came renewed interest in getting the rights of women on par with those of men in Egypt. Egypt has traditionally lagged behind the Western world with affording women rights, their laws more closely resembling that of their Islamic neighbors. Egyptian women were granted full political rights in 1956, but the social and cultural climate of Egypt has hindered women from taking full advantage of these rights and being treated as equals. But very recently women have been making more and more advances, although they have not come quickly and not without a struggle. Much of their gain can be accredited to the National Council for Women, recently celebrating their 10th anniversary. The NCW is celebrating Women's Day by holding conferences across the country to discuss women's achievements and the problems they still face ahead. The series of conferences will commence with the NCW's headquarter's conference that will be held after the governorates have finished their celebrations.

NCW Secretary General Farkhonda Hassan spoke with the Al-Ahram about the work of the NCW, the progress they've made and the steps that lie ahead. Hassan believes that the advancement of women has grown hand in hand with the country's social, economic, and cultural development. Recent victories for the NCW include:
- The 2003 appointment of Tahini El-Gebali as Egypt's first female judge.
- A 2004 Law which allows Egyptian women to pass down their citizenship to their children regardless of the nationality of their spouse.
- A 2007 mass swearing-in of female judges.
- The 2008 appointment of the first female omda (mayor) and maazoun (religious registrar).

The NCW organizes workshops that are aimed at training Egyptian women to build their own political careers. The women are taught about legislative institutions, the election process, and leadership skills, and they are also informed about the economic and social issues facing women in Egypt.
The NCW has developed a detailed national development plan that spans the years of 2007 to 2012. The plan outlines several strategies that will be key to the future advancement of women that include meeting with political parties and working together to improve the status of women, participatory planning, and on-the-job capacity building with partners from national agencies.

However, one of the most pressing goals of the NCW lies ahead in the next week. The State Council is currently deliberating the issue on whether or not it will allow female law school graduates on to the council's administrative judiciary. The problem arose when law student graduates of 2008 and 2009 began applying for judicial posts. After completing initial tests and interviews the review process was stopped and a special committee was created to discuss the issue of appointing female graduates to the council, and the question was then referred to the general assembly. All of this occurred back in mid-January and there have been countless protests by over 150 women's rights groups in front of both the State Council and the National Democratic Party since then. The protesters see the issue as a very cut and dry case because denying women equal power to serve would be unconstitutional, but to the Supreme Constitutional Court it is not that simple. Last Tuesday they voted once again to postpone their decision to an undetermined later date. Although women have come a long way in recent years in Egypt they still have a long way to go. It seems however that things are trending in their favor, as women continue to achieve better representation in the skilled job market as well as many levels of government.