Page 7 - Issue 34

ELITE Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021
Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021

Egypt is witnessing a huge leap in the

development of policies to empower and

support women

are targeting women are laced with several problems, aside with the absence of a culture of volunteering, which might
from the complicating effects of the social and cultural have been stronger in the early 19th or 20th centuries.
contexts. We can see some of these problems during the Funding is another significant issue, particularly in countries
planning phases for projects, in which some projects are left facing population booms, wide geographical spread and the
without clearly-defined goals for example, or they might common shortcomings of international funding, which
confuse primary and secondary objectives; in other cases, the focuses mostly on short and medium-length programs that
projects might misidentify their targets or they might target consist mainly of raising awareness and training, but do not
certain locations and activities that are incompatible with the contribute to long-term projects. International funding entities
project’s timeframe. also collaborate with civil society organizations; but as I
mentioned earlier, the latter’s own internal problems mean
There is also the fact that women’s issues are multiple and that relying on them to implement these internationally-
interrelated; for instance, women’s health is connected to funded projects places much pressure on them. Additionally,
women’s poverty and women’s education. Another point we have the problem of a lack of institutional memory caused
worth mentioning about project implementation is the lack of by insufficient documentation of programs. Lastly, we can
coordination among the entities working in women speak of the cultural and social dossiers such as religious
empowerment, which is something that needs to be addressed discourse, media and the legislative environment. And
for more effective implementation. In addition, there are whereas legislation has witnessed improvement, the religious
certain areas that are off the radar of women-oriented discourse and cultural context are still confined to technical
programs; for example, limited attention is directed to elderly discussions.
and young-adult women; similarly, uneducated and rural
women tend to receive more attention that their educated and Egypt is currently witnessing an important shift in the
Bedouin counterparts, respectively. These are all points that status of women. How do you view the measures taken by
projects should take into account. Furthermore, we notice how the government to empower Egyptian women?
each of the private sector, civil society with its institutional There has been significant progress in the status of women;
weaknesses, and universities that are burdened with limited women have acquired legal rights and the number of women
resources for research, is unable to perform its role as an in the Council of Representatives and Cabinet is at record
effective partner in women empowerment. This is coupled highs. We can also see this progress in the efforts of the

6