Ramsco's Women Empowerment Initiative Recognized Among Top BRICS Businesswomen Practices for 2025    Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    Gold prices end July with modest gains    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Egypt's FM, US envoy discuss Gaza ceasefire, Iran nuclear talks    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Federal Reserve maintains interest rates    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Rafah Crossing 'never been closed for one day' from Egypt: PM    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's EDA explores pharma cooperation with Belarus    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Popular committees bring true spirit of democracy to the streets
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 23 - 08 - 2011

Protests in Tahrir Square might be slowing down for now, but the ongoing struggle for dignity, freedom and social justice isn't over. It has just moved to Imbaba.
In this poor neighborhood with an estimated population of around 1 million in northeast Giza, members of the popular committees that came together for neighborhood protection during last winter's uprising are now taking the demands for change into their own hands, starting with local issues. The campaign they launched, called “Know Your Rights,” is already making headway.
“We didn't want a small group of people to do this. People have to ask for their rights… Everyone must know that as long as he pays taxes, it's his right to lead a decent living. The government has to provide me with the basic services,” said Youssef.
The campaign's goal is to mobilize people to be active in their communities and unite to demand their rights from government.
“We wanted to do field work in the streets among people. The piece of bread we eat every day is politics, the traffic congestion is politics, and the garbage in the streets is politics. That's why in order to solve these problems and for Egypt to become a better place, we have to start from the bottom at the grassroots level,” said Ehab Ali, a member in the popular committee in Imbaba who is working on the campaign.
The grass-roots campaign was launched by the popular committees that formed during last winter's uprising to protect neighborhoods when police withdrew from the streets in the midst of nationwide protests that toppled former President Mubarak.
Popular committees meet to discuss what they believe are the most pressing problems facing their neighborhoods. Then they devise strategies on how to pressure the government to respond.
Similar initiatives took place in nine other areas in Greater Cairo, each focusing on its local problems.
The idea behind the campaign is that communities know their own needs better than any politicians or civil society organizations based outside of their neighborhoods. And in post-Mubarak Egypt, people feel that their demands should be heard.
“This is the true democracy. It's the popular democracy, not elite democracy. Voting in parliamentary and presidential elections is not enough. The main stakeholders have to be the decision makers all along even after electing MPs,” said Ahmed Ezzat, a lawyer who is the general coordinator of the Popular Committees to Defend the Revolution, a national coalition of local popular committees.
The popular committee in Imbaba was the first to kick off its campaign. Members of the “Know Your Rights” campaign are focusing on pressuring the government to remove garbage from the streets. Currently, municipal services like garbage collection do not service Imbaba.
At a recent event, members of the popular committee held signs that read: “Remove the garbage, you will kill us,” “How will our children get educated when the garbage is blocking the school's gate?” and “Where does our money go when the garbage drowns the streets?”
On the second day of a series of planned events in Imbaba, the campaigners distributed flyers to passersby, explaining the campaign and collecting their signatures for a petition that would be sent to the governor in protest against poor garbage collection which takes a heavy toll on the neighborhood.
“Imbaba belongs to the Giza governorate using the same budget as Mohandiseen, so why does Imbaba look like this while Mohandiseen is clean?” Ayman Youssef, coordinator of the popular committee of Imbaba, told a passerby in reference to a nearby upper-middle-class neighborhood.
“Aren't we human like those living in the rich areas? The street looks like a big garbage factory,” said Dalia Hussein, 36, a resident of Imbaba who signed the petition. “The campaign is great because we will never achieve anything except if we are united.”
The campaign, which uses the slogan “We'll visit all of Egypt's streets,” aspires to deal with other social and economic issues such as housing, minimum wages, health care, education, and transportation by bringing them to the attention of the authorities.
A week after the campaign's first function in Imbaba, the governor of Giza visited the neighborhood and promised to remove all the garbage in a week. The campaign organizers celebrated the success when a day later a truck arrived to take away the garbage in one of the areas, but the problem still lingers in the rest of Imbaba.
According to Ezzat, the popular committees started thinking about the campaign after the latest crackdown by the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) on protests in Tahrir Square at the beginning of August. The crackdown ended the 23-day sit in,
A week before dismantling the sit-in, SCAF released a statement on its Facebook page accusing April 6 Youth Movement, an instrumental group in January 25 revolution, of attempting to sow discord between the people and the army. This is in addition to SCAF member General Hassan al-Ruweiny's claim that April 6 and a number of civil society organizations were being trained and funded by foreign countries.
The campaign has been gaining momentum in the past week and organizers are communicating with popular committees outside of Cairo to widen the campaign.
“The state has launched a defamation campaign against revolutionaries, so we decided to go to people where they live. We want every neighborhood to be Tahrir Square by initiating a continuous discussion about people's social and economic needs,” added Ezzat.


Clic here to read the story from its source.