A Women's Day for All Egyptians/

A Women's Day for All Egyptians


On International Women's Day 2011, Secretary-General Vidar Helgesen is meeting with a group of women activists in Cairo, Egypt to discuss issues of women's political participation and representation, and related constitutional, electoral and governance reforms. Read his statement below.
Over the past few weeks, observers across the world watched and admired the courageous acts of women and men in North Africa and the Middle East in defying authoritarian regimes and demonstrating their unwavering determination to take their future in their own hands.
The protests generated displays of women practicing their political and civil rights and freedoms along with men, in the streets of Tunis, Cairo and elsewhere and their interest in wanting to be represented and have a say in the way their country is governed.
Yet regrettably, in situations where individual rights and freedoms are circumscribed, women are very often faced with deeply rooted discrimination based on their sex. This is manifested through their unequal legal status, patriarchal societal norms and beliefs opposing women's active participation in public life and limiting their rights and freedoms in private life.
In Egypt, amid the changing political landscape and the pressure to draft a new constitution and hold snap elections, discussions on women's rights and gender equality are critical.
We already see that the legacy of excluding women from political decision making continues. The absence of female experts from the constitutional drafting committee may be just an indication of the uphill struggle ahead. It will be equally important to ensure that women's voices are adequately reflected in the coming electoral and other reforms.
Equal participation of women and men throughout the process of building Egypt's new democracy is the only way to translate into practice their common aspiration for "freedom, equality, social justice" which is the very spirit of the popular uprising. The promise of creating an open society free from political and social exclusion will not materialize if half of the population is excluded.
It will be up to Egyptian women leaders and women activists from across the political spectrum, to push for outcomes that will enhance women's role in public life: their freedom of expression, their opportunity to hold office and their access to justice.
Women will also need to be vigilant and protect some of the incremental gains for women's rights and gender equality that Egypt and other countries in the region have made in the past decades, despite the gross under-representation of women in political decision-making and the multiple forms of discrimination they endure in both the public and private spheres. These achievements include improvements to the personal status and family laws, gender-based quotas for women in legislatures at the national and local level, and greater access for women to education and health services.
Women and men of Egypt and other countries of the Arab region have demonstrated through their uprisings that inclusiveness is a powerful force for change. A conscientious effort is now required to sustain the inclusive participation when democracy moves out of the streets and into political institutions and processes: then democracy will be owned not only by Egyptians but by all Egyptians. In that spirit, the International Women's Day is also a day for men to celebrate: inclusive democracy means stronger democracy, and this is what millions of men in the Arab region are joining with women in demanding. Happy International Women's Day!

Secretary-General, International IDEA
(Complementay by The Muktidooth)
r.kandawasvika-nhundu@idea.int

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