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info@microjustice.org
info@microjustice.org

Legal Rights Protection Program Egypt

In Phase I of the Legal Rights Protection Barometer research (the Barometer), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign affairs, the main issues in legal rights protection and the justice gap in Egypt have been identified, as follows.

In Egypt, there are around 700.000 registered lawyers, of which a large part is actively exercising the legal profession. There are tens of thousands of laws and legal practices according to the local requirements in the relevant institutions and courts throughout the country. There is no overall legal information available and legal literacy is felt by all to be an important need. People do not know how to protect their rights and need access to a quality lawyer. Lower income groups, up to 80 % of the population, lack the financial resources to get a good lawyer whereas the legal needs in all aspects of life are important. Key legal needs are:

Legal Rights Protection Barometer

EGYPT REPORT

Final version 2023

EN - FREE DOWNLOAD .pdf

Real estate, property registration and transfer of property titles. Less than 5% of the real property is registered in the property register, and the State urges people to get their property registered, and the title in their name.

Related to this, there is an important need for legal information and aid regarding inheritance. This is important for both urban and rural population.

For the rural agricultural population, the awareness on these topics is essential, and the introduction of self-managed collectives to consolidate the land and reunite fragmented land, reducing costs and water consumption while increasing the productivity of the land

For women and children having access to legal information on family right to formalize a divorce and to obtain alimony is fundamental after the mostly oral divorce declaration by a man. It is fundamental that children get their birth certificate to exist and to go to school.

To support smaller business, it is essential to have basic legal literacy for the legal needs providing legality and security, including the understanding of bankruptcy, loans, partnership, tax-issues

Huge presence of the informal sector and legal insecurity in labour related rights and obligations

On the basis of the outcome of the Barometer research, Microjustice, The Hague based Dutch Foundation, has developed this 3 year Project with as aim to set up a Digital Legal Aid Platform in Egypt (see digital Legal Aid Platform description and showcase).

The general objective of the project is to legally empower vulnerable and marginalized groups, with a special focus on women, in order to improve their socio-economic and political opportunities through the enhancement of social inclusion and effective participation in human rights by the improvement of the access to legal aid through setting up a digital bridge between the people and legal professionals, in the form of a Digital Legal Aid Platform.

The Project aims to:

  1. Help vulnerable, target groups and rural communities, especially women, access the basic legal rights (related to identity, property, family, inheritance, etc.) that constitute prerequisites for their political, social, and economic inclusion.
  2. Empower the Egyptian population, especially women to exercise, defend, and promote their social, economic and political rights recognized by the Constitution, national laws, and international treaties.
  3. Improve the access to basic legal rights for all through establishing standardized legal service provision in the form of a digital legal aid Platform,
  4. Communicate on the obstacles encountered while standardizing and conducting the legal procedures, through lobbying, evidenced-based advocacy, and collaboration with government agencies.
  5. Further improve the efficiency and sustainability of the Microjustice legal service provision and integration of the developed Platform within the Egyptian legal environment by setting up an independent national civil society-based coordination Centre within existing organisation/institution, for further Platform running an up-scaling.

Empower Her Egypt

We are excited to announce the launch of the “Empower Her Egypt” project, a collaborative initiative between the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Cairo and Stichting Microjustice4All. This project is a significant step towards enhancing the rights and working conditions of women in rural areas of Egypt, where they often face discrimination, marginalization, and hazardous working environments.

Slovenia AID&Partnerships

Project Overview

The “Empower Her Egypt” project aimed to address the pressing issues faced by women in rural Egypt through comprehensive research, awareness campaigns, educational workshops, and the development of a toolkit for labor and environmental rights. The project ran from June to December 2024 and was conducted in various critical rural areas identified through meticulous research and data collection.”

Empower Her Egypt: Mapping Rural Areas of Women's Discrimination and Hazardous Work
Arabic Report version “مشروع مَكنِها”

Identify and Map Critical Rural Areas by:

Conducting extensive research and surveys involving local and state-level environmental and agricultural agencies, as well as NGOs, to pinpoint rural areas with high levels of gender discrimination and hazardous working conditions for women;

Utilizing GIS and mapping tools to visualize and analyze the data, identifying priority areas for immediate intervention.

Raise Awareness on Key Issues by:

Developing educational and promotional materials to highlight the health and safety risks faced by women in rural workplaces and their environmental impacts;

Implementing social media campaigns;

Organizing workshops in five targeted governorates to educate local women about their rights to safe working conditions and healthcare, and to inform local men about the importance of improving working conditions for women and promoting environmental sustainability.

Develop a Women’s Toolkit for Labor and Environmental Rights by:

Creating a comprehensive toolkit focusing on gender rights related to labor and environmental issues for women in targeted rural areas. This toolkit will include packages of products and guidelines tailored to specific legal needs, addressing their vulnerability and providing legal analysis and recommendations;

Integrating the toolkit within the Legal Aid Platform (LAP) to enable affordable access to labor and environmental legal services.

 

The “Empower Her Egypt” project represents a significant stride towards empowering women in rural Egypt by addressing systemic issues and promoting sustainable development. Through collaborative efforts, research, education, and legal empowerment, this project aims to create a safer and more equitable working environment for women in these communities.

We look forward to the successful implementation of this project and the positive impact it will have on the lives of many women in rural Egypt.