The National Council for Women is pursuing an ambitious agenda to underline women's legal rights, reports Dina Ezzat Underlining the function of Family Courts, and promoting the role of ombudsman offices, figured prominently at a high level National Council for Women (NCW) meeting this week. Chaired by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, the council's president, the Monday meeting reviewed a long list of activities that Egypt is planning to undertake within the coming weeks and months to promote women's legal rights, and live up to commitments made by Cairo at the international level. The Family Courts were the number one item on the agenda. The meeting examined the possibility of establishing five Family Court headquarters across the country, with an eye on doubling and even tripling this number in the near future. The meeting also discussed a detailed plan to provide high quality training for Family Court judges and executives to ensure that these recently established legal bodies will perform efficiently and promptly, and thus avoid falling into an unwanted dynamic involving prolonged legal procedures that end up negatively affecting women seeking marital settlements including divorce and alimony. The meeting also gave equal attention to the ombudsman office project initiated earlier this year to provide women with a venue to turn to for their legal complaints, whether marriage-related or regarding discrimination in the workplace. The NCW meeting examined plans to make the two ombudsman offices currently in operation -- in Cairo and Aswan -- more effective, not only in terms of receiving complaints but also in actually helping to settle the problems and disputes presented to them. The NCW hopes to expand the project across the country once the current offices establish themselves. "I have not heard of any such offices," said Umm Mahmoud, a maid in her early 40s. Umm Mahmoud, like many women of the same, or similar, socio- economic background, who have problems, legal and otherwise, that require serious assistance, was not aware (and highly sceptical) of the new legal facilities that the government says it provides to help settle problems. Umm Mahmoud and Umm Nahid, the wife of a Nasr City porter, were also confused about the new Family Courts. As far as both women are concerned, if someone has a complaint then they have to go to the police station to report it. There, they said, they would most likely have to put up with insults and humiliation if the complaint, for instance, related to marital violence. The NCW is aware of the serious need to better inform the public about the new projects it has been supporting to promote women's legal rights. The Monday meeting discussed details of a nationwide campaign to inform women about both their legal rights, and the recently established bodies that provide legal service for women, especially those of lesser socio-economic status. According to NCW Secretary-General Farkhonda Hassan, the objective is to target women in both urban and rural areas. On Tuesday, Hassan said, she met with a group of "rural women leaders" who will help the council reach out to women in Egyptian villages. Hassan told this group to be more active in their efforts to better inform their communities about the increasing facilities that the NCW attempts to provide. The NCW also reviewed a number of other issues that aim to accentuate women's rights in society in general, including the promotion of policy-making and political participation. The lacklustre image of women in the media, and especially in drama production, was also addressed. The meetings adopted a set of recommendations that aim to activate cooperation between the NCW and other governmental bodies. Closer cooperation is particularly expected between the NCW and the Information Ministry. The council will also work on establishing a media follow-up mechanism to monitor the portrayal of women's images and women's issues in the media, and make recommendations aimed at ensuring that this presentation be more gender sensitive. This week's meetings also reviewed issues related to the country's international commitments on women's rights, including Egypt's implementation of CEDAW (The Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the follow up to Egypt's implementation of the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference action plan. Apart from its reservations regarding two CEDAW articles on equal inheritance of brothers and sisters and the immediate granting of a mother's nationality to her children, Egypt is supposed to be pursuing the implementation of the convention's other articles in relation to women's legal and social rights. Egypt also has a very long list of Beijing-related commitments in relation to women's reproductive, legal, political, and social rights (with the exception of some elements of the Beijing Programme of Action). Several Egyptian non- governmental women's rights groups have argued that the Egyptian government has not been very committed to honouring its CEDAW, Beijing and other international responsibilities and commitments. The level of Egypt's implementation of these documents is assessed through international follow-up conferences. This week, the NCW examined that implementation, and considered Egypt's case at the upcoming CEDAW and Beijing follow-up review meetings. According to the NCW, Egypt has been working hard to implement its international commitments, especially when it comes to promoting girl child and women's legal rights. The Egyptian government takes pride in its campaign to promote girls' enrolment in schools, the combat of female genital mutilation, and the prevention of early marriages. The government also boasts of legal amendments that have allowed Egyptian women to pass on their nationality to children of foreign fathers. Much more, however, has to be done, admitted the NCW. The meetings discussed potential cooperation with a group of international organisations, including those related to the UN, to pursue further projects that aim to promote women's rights. It remains to be seen, however, whether the government will make a clear decision to embrace braver policies on women's rights irrespective of Islamist and other fundamentalist opposition that is often voiced against these rights. More programmes are not the answer, say independent and opposition NGOers, who will probably not be satisfied with anything less than total commitment to international agreements in this respect.
