CAIRO: Egypt's Minister for Family and Population, Moshira Khattab, stressed that the political leadership, represented by President Hosni Mubarak and First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, has made great efforts for the empowerment of women and their promotion in the society, “particularly through the recent constitutional amendments and increasing the seats held by women in parliament,” arguing that the coming elections of is “a historic opportunity to prove that woman are not less qualified than men in order to change the culture of the society.” The minister said in an interview with the official MENA news agency that “the political leadership to consider the issues of women through an integral approach from the perspective of their rights as integrated, which primarily focused on the less fortunate and the poor, so that low income or geographical location, gender, would not be the cause of preventing any citizen from enjoying the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the law.” The minister stressed the importance of women's political participation in the upcoming election, “as long as such participation is weak,” pointing out that the issue of quotas is a temporary subject, adding that “it is a test for women to prove that their presence is useful and important, and succeed in changing the negative perception in the community.” She noted that it is important to choose women “who are able to influence and interact in their communities with their physical presence in their communities. “ The minister added, “we want strong women to compete with men on an equal footing, and we are facing a historic opportunity to make the community believe in the role of women despite the existence of discrimination that still exists against them, so Egyptian women must prove themselves in this new and historical experience and succeed in changing the negative perception.” She emphasized that the empowerment of women in Egypt still has a long way to go, stressing the importance of women's political participation, which she described as still “very weak.” BM
