Public policy and the test of fundamental rights
Deleted Lines | Issue 11 | September 2025
Public policy and the test of fundamental rights
In the eleventh issue of Deleted Lines, we monitor tense intersections between public policies and fundamental rights in Egypt. From inside the prisons to mental health hospitals, and from parliament to the street, the events intensify: a lawsuit to halt the raising of treatment costs, parliamentary moves concerning the medicine crisis, and rights campaigns to protect women workers, agricultural workers and those threatened with displacement. We also follow the repercussions of the Criminal Procedure Law, violations in the Badr prisons, and the detention of activists of the “Sumud Flotilla”, amid demands for release, treatment and education. And in the background, the meat crisis, environmental challenges, and enforced disappearances that find no answer.
1. Personal liberty and prison conditions
The Egyptian Initiative: Badr Prison Beautifies Repression
A new rights report issued by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said that the Badr Prison Complex, which the Egyptian authorities opened in mid-2022, does not reflect a real shift in detention conditions; rather, a pattern of violations linked to isolation, the prevention of communication and the absence of independent oversight persists there, despite its presentation in the official media as a model prison relying on modern technologies.
The report, issued in September 2025 under the title “Propaganda and Reality: Badr Prison in Light of the Law and Human Rights Standards”, is an attempt to document what happens behind the walls of the complex, based on testimonies of prisoners, their families and lawyers, and it covers the period from mid-2022 to mid-2025.
According to the Initiative, the Badr complex, which comprises three main facilities, relies on an extremely closed security structure, including camera surveillance inside the cells and corridors, constant artificial lighting, and an almost total prevention of exposure to natural light or fresh air. Books and newspapers are also not allowed in, and detainees are subject to constant surveillance, in the absence of direct interaction with prison staff.
The Initiative indicates that a number of detainees were transferred to Badr from the Aqrab and Tora prisons more than two years ago, and until the time of writing the report they had not been allowed to meet their families or lawyers, even though they are in pretrial detention cases not subject to rulings that prohibit visits.
The report monitored several cases of hunger strikes inside Badr 2 and 3, in protest at the conditions of detention, including the prevention of exercise and healthcare, and deprivation of contact with the outside world. The testimonies conveyed by the report indicate that the prison administration did not respond to those strikes, and did not enable the detainees to submit official complaints or meet lawyers, which increased the feeling of isolation and insecurity.
The report documented a number of cases in which detainees died inside the complex without the announcement of investigations into them.
The most prominent of these cases include: Anas El-Sayed Mohamed, a university student who died inside Badr 3 in May 2023, after his health deteriorated and his family’s repeated requests to transfer him to hospital went unanswered. And Emad Hassan, who remained in solitary confinement for months inside the complex, despite suffering from a serious illness, and did not receive the necessary medical care. Other cases whose names were not mentioned are linked to hunger strikes, or physical deterioration as a result of neglect.
The Initiative says that the Public Prosecution had not opened independent investigations into these cases by the time the report was issued, nor was any independent rights body or media outlet allowed to visit the complex or verify its conditions directly.
The report indicates that the Public Prosecution has not carried out any surprise visits to Badr since its opening, while the National Council for Human Rights’ access was limited to a single visit in 2022, conducted in prior coordination with the Ministry of Interior, without publishing detailed findings or public recommendations.
The Initiative also noted that the Ministry of Interior did not respond to dozens of complaints submitted by detainees’ families, relating to the prevention of visits and medical care and the detention of prisoners in inhumane conditions.
The report concluded that the modern architectural form and technical equipment inside Badr Prison do not express an actual improvement in treatment or respect for fundamental rights; rather, they are used as a facade to conceal violations within an environment that is more closed and more difficult to monitor.
The Initiative called for opening independent judicial investigations into the deaths and the documented violations inside the complex; it also called for amending the prison regulations to guarantee the right to visits, care and grievance, and for allowing human rights organisations and independent media to visit the Badr complex and other prisons; in addition to ending the use of penal facilities as political tools to market an image that differs from reality.
Activists from the Egyptian Sumud Flotilla Arrested
The Administrative Court Grants Mohamed Adel the Right to Sit His Exams
The Administrative Court ruled to accept an appeal filed by the “Egyptian Initiative for Rights and Freedoms” against the decision preventing activist Mohamed Adel from sitting postgraduate exams at Mansoura University, considering the ruling a step towards enabling prisoners to complete their education.
Adel, who has been serving a prison sentence for more than 11 years in cases of a political nature, had gone on hunger strike last year in protest at being prevented from sitting the exam. According to the Initiative, the ruling reinforces the constitutional and legal provisions that guarantee prisoners’ right to education and oblige reform centres to facilitate it.
Demands to Reveal the Fate of Ahmed Hassan Six Years After His Disappearance
Local and international rights organisations renewed their demand to reveal the fate of the student Ahmed Hassan Mostafa, who turned twenty-five at the beginning of September, more than six years after his disappearance since his arrest in April 2019 while he was studying at the Faculty of Law. Despite a court ruling issued in 2020 obliging the Interior Ministry to reveal his whereabouts, the ministry refuses to implement it to this day. Ahmed’s family affirms that it has not received any official information about his fate, while rights organisations consider his continued disappearance a flagrant violation of the rule of law and an ongoing crime of enforced disappearance.
Rights Concern over the Health Condition of Lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim
Rights organisations expressed their grave concern over the deterioration of the health condition of lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim (66 years old), who has been held in pretrial detention since November 2018, despite suffering from chronic and serious illnesses that threaten her life. Abdel Moneim suffered two heart attacks last August, and suffers from narrowing of the brain arteries, which has led to a total inability to move, while her family has repeatedly requested her release on health grounds without response.
A Tosson Resident Who Objected to Displacement Detained on a Terrorism Charge
Security forces arrested Abdullah Mohamed El-Sayed (29 years old) on 11 September at his workplace in Alexandria, and the Supreme State Security Prosecution charged him with joining a terrorist group, financing it, and spreading false news, and placed him in pretrial detention for 15 days. His lawyers denied the charges, affirming that what he did was exercise his constitutional right to express his opinion as part of the protests of Tosson residents against their displacement for the new Ring Road project.
Ahmed Douma Summoned for the Fifth Time in a Year
The Supreme State Security Prosecution on Monday released political activist Ahmed Douma on bail of EGP 50,000, after he was summoned last Thursday for questioning in a new case, in his fifth summons within a year, and set a session for Monday 29 September. According to what he announced on his “Facebook” page, the case comes as a continuation of a series of prosecutions that included his posts on social media about domestic and regional conditions. Douma had been released last April on bail of EGP 10,000 pending a case in which he was accused of broadcasting false news.
2. Legislation, oversight and justice guarantees
The Egyptian Front: The Executive Authority Controls Parliament’s Legislation
The Egyptian Front for Human Rights said in a new report that the House of Representatives whose term has ended (2020–2025) entrenched the executive authority’s dominance over the legislative process in the country, and largely squandered the oversight role it was supposed to play, while the Human Rights Committee was absent from carrying out its core competences and was preoccupied with secondary issues that do not touch the heart of the freedoms file.
The Front explained that during its term parliament passed 879 laws, of which MPs submitted only 16, compared with only 13 laws in which the government partnered with MPs who mostly belong to the “Mostaqbal Watan” Party, which is backed by state agencies, while most of the other laws came from the government alone. Although the constitution recognises the right of MPs to submit draft laws, the internal bylaws of the House of Representatives give priority to government draft laws, which led to the complete marginalisation of independent parliamentary initiatives, according to the report.
The Front added that most of the legislation passed was authoritarian in nature and included direct violations of fundamental rights, most notably the new Criminal Procedure Law passed by parliament in April 2025, the amended Anti-Terrorism Law, and the Law on the Protection of Public Facilities, which removed the exceptional status of the army’s participation in internal security and enabled the military judiciary to try civilians, in addition to laws on dismissing employees based on security “indications”, and the Pandemics Law, which criminalises publishing information in emergency health circumstances.
According to the report, the Human Rights Committee, chaired by MP Tarek Radwan of the Mostaqbal Watan Party, did not take the initiative to submit any legislative proposals that strengthen freedoms or correct these laws, and showed no notable objection to their contents; rather, it took part in supporting some of them, such as the Asylum Law, despite its explicit violation of international conventions, and the Criminal Procedure Law, which “legitimised” security exceptions under the cover of ordinary law.
The Front also criticised the committee’s oversight performance, considering that the tools of parliamentary oversight were either not used or were used for purely service-related and local purposes with no connection to accountability, noting that the committee organised only one visit to a prison over five years, and it was coordinated in advance with the Ministry of Interior, which raises doubts about its seriousness, according to the report.
The Front stressed that the committee engaged in general media and awareness activities instead of performing its legislative and oversight role, and was preoccupied with holding meetings with government and media bodies to respond to what it called “external allegations”, without issuing documents or clear positions on core rights files such as torture, recycling, enforced disappearance, and the suppression of freedom of expression.
The Front concluded its report by affirming that the Human Rights Committee did not engage with more than 343 recommendations that Egypt received in the last Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for a comprehensive review of existing legislation, the activation of real oversight, the institutionalisation of the committee’s participation in drafting laws related to freedoms, and the transformation of the international community’s recommendations into declared oversight and legislative plans.
El-Sisi Returns the Criminal Procedure Law to Parliament
After weeks of controversy, the Egyptian president decided to return the draft Criminal Procedure Law to parliament, in response to wide objections from political forces and rights organisations. The statement issued by the Presidency indicated that the aim is to review the controversial articles and strengthen constitutional guarantees, especially those relating to the sanctity of the home and alternatives to pretrial detention.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights demanded that any amendments be based on fundamental principles such as the separation of powers, equality of arms between the prosecution and the defence, the presumption of innocence, and guaranteeing trial within a reasonable period of time.
For its part, the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law stressed the importance of addressing the gaps relating to women’s rights, whether as victims, complainants or defendants, guaranteeing their right to initiate proceedings directly, taking into account the circumstances of pregnant and breastfeeding women, and protecting the privacy of sexual violence cases. It also called for developing an integrated system that preserves the confidentiality of women’s data, provides mechanisms of psychological and legal support, and strengthens the balance between the powers of investigation and the guarantees of the defence.
Speaking to “Zawia3”, lawyer Ahmed Mokhtar describes the decision as a “positive and realistic” step, but stresses that addressing only eight articles is not enough, as the law as a whole needs a comprehensive review, emphasising that passing the law in its current form would have led to an inevitable crisis, given the “constitutional and rights defects” it contains that threaten the rights of the defence and the sanctity of homes, and expose its provisions later to challenges before the Constitutional Court. He points out that the current opportunity should not be reduced to amending the articles under objection, but should extend to reconsidering more than fifty contentious articles for which rights organisations and legal initiatives had previously proposed alternatives and different wordings.
Human rights lawyer Entessar El-Saeed, director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, affirms that returning the draft Criminal Procedure Law to parliament is an important step, but stresses that what matters most is that the review be comprehensive and serious to ensure that women are effectively enabled to access justice.
In exclusive statements to Zawia3, El-Saeed says: “It is not possible to talk about a modern law that protects rights without clear provisions that take sexual violence cases into account and guarantee the confidentiality of victims’ data and their protection.” She explains that the foundation demands that the coming law reflect the constitution and guarantee equality and non-discrimination, so that women do not remain the weakest link before justice.
Sisi Returns Criminal Procedure Bill to Parliament as Rights Groups Demand a Full Review
3. Health and access to medicines and treatment
Parliamentary Moves to Confront the Medicine Crisis in Egypt
The House of Representatives witnessed new moves concerning the medicine crisis, consisting of submitting questions to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health about rising prices and shortages of some items, in addition to calling for tighter oversight of dispensing children’s medicines without a medical prescription.
MP Samira El-Gazzar submitted a question about the continued rise in medicine prices despite the stability of the dollar, noting that the crisis has continued for about three years and that people with chronic illnesses have been affected by medicine shortages and rising prices. She explained that about 100 pharmaceutical companies are demanding price increases for 500 items at rates ranging between 10% and 30%, warning of the impact of this on the availability of medicines in winter. She also criticised the slowness of the procedures for registering and analysing new items, and the absence of the role of the Pharmacists Syndicate in overseeing the market.
In a related context, MP Khaled Tantawi supported the Egyptian Drug Authority’s warnings about dispensing cough and cold medicines for children without a prescription, stressing their risks and side effects, and calling for enforcing the ban on antibiotics except with a written prescription, and strengthening oversight and awareness mechanisms to correct parents’ misconceptions.
A Lawsuit to Halt the Raising of Treatment Costs at Mental Health Hospitals
The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights filed a lawsuit before the Administrative Court in Cairo challenging Minister of Health Decision No. 220 of 2025, which raises the costs of care, treatment and residence at mental health hospitals, on behalf of affected psychiatric patients and their guardians, along with psychiatry specialists.
The Center demanded a halt to the implementation of the decision, the cancellation of the new prices, and a return to the previous prices, stressing that the decision imposes exorbitant financial burdens that exceed the capacity of patients and their families, and also contradicts the constitution and Egypt’s international human rights obligations, and threatens patients’ right to obtain decent and humane psychiatric treatment.
Controversy over Offering Government Hospital Clinics for Rent
The Ministry of Health and Population announced the offering of outpatient clinics at three government hospitals, Mabarra Old Cairo, Mabarra Maadi, and Heliopolis Hospital, for rent to doctors through an official tender. It explained that the aim is to give young doctors the opportunity to rent licensed clinics to practise their medical activity legally during the evening period, while obliging them to carry out tests, examinations and operations inside the hospital to ensure the provision of an integrated service, noting that the available specialties include internal medicine, surgery, orthopaedics and paediatrics.
Mahmoud Fouad, head of the Right to Medicine Association, criticises the decision, considering that it comes within the government’s orientation towards reducing the burden of spending on public health, noting that the step came after successive increases in the prices of consultation tickets, the reduction of medicines dispensed to patients, and the rising cost of health insurance and medicine.
Speaking to “Zawia3”, Fouad points out that there is an accelerating government orientation towards curtailing the idea of free treatment enshrined by successive Egyptian constitutions, most recently the current constitution in its Article 18, an orientation manifested in several measures including raising the prices of hospital admission tickets, dispensing only one item of medicine, increasing the prices of health insurance services and medicines, and raising the costs of treatment at the state’s expense. He explains that the financial allocations directed to treatment at the state’s expense are insufficient in the first place, and yet patients face recurring difficulties, such as being asked to pay additional amounts or to renew treatment decisions more than once. He adds that the Minister of Health issued the “concession grant” law, which allows foreign investors to manage and operate Egyptian hospitals, something happening for the first time in the country’s history, as 40 hospitals were offered to investors, among them the historic Agouza Hospital and Sharq El-Madina Hospital in Alexandria, despite both making profits and playing an important role in health services.
Fouad questions the justifications for selling or leasing profitable hospitals, noting that the bone marrow unit at Zayed Specialised Hospital, which is considered one of the best in the Middle East and makes large profits, was also offered for investment disposal, alongside the ministry’s plan to lease outpatient clinics in some hospitals during the evening period to doctors, stressing that this will burden patients with additional costs and drain the equipment of public hospitals at the expense of citizens.
4. Public safety, food and the environment
77% of Egyptians Face Disasters Without Warning
An investigation conducted by Zawia3 showed major gaps in the early warning system for natural disasters in Egypt, as millions of citizens in remote villages and informal areas remain without any warning, despite the existence of systems for monitoring earthquakes, diseases, flash floods and heatwaves in some governorates. Citizens often rely on the media, social media platforms or personal phone calls to receive any warning, which exposes a wide gap in climate justice between urban and rural areas.
The testimonies of farmers and smallholders, such as Khalaf Aziz and Essam Ouda, confirmed that the absence of early warnings leads to heavy losses in crops and agricultural land, while official initiatives remain limited or confined to seasonal weather bulletins without providing clear instructions for prevention or for dealing with disasters. Despite the partial development of agricultural, earthquake and flash-flood warning systems, major challenges remain relating to funding, a shortage of personnel, and weak links between the stations and citizens.
The findings of the investigation show that preparedness differs from one governorate to another, as some government bodies rely on meteorological centres, agricultural extension workers and local operations rooms to coordinate the response, while the ordinary citizen remains outside the circle of direct warning. The investigation concludes that strengthening climate justice requires establishing a comprehensive central system that reaches all citizens, along with training local personnel, improving the technical infrastructure, and raising community awareness of how to deal with disasters before they occur.
عندما تضرب كارثة… من يُنذر الفقراء؟ 77% من المصريين يواجهون الكوارث بلا إنذار
Egypt Faces the Challenge of Food Security
Social media was abuzz last July with a video of an elderly woman kissing the hand of the Governor of Giza, pleading for a little meat to be provided, a scene that sparked a wide wave of anger among citizens. Despite officials’ attention, the incident highlighted the fragility of the purchasing power of millions of Egyptians in the face of rising prices of basic goods.
In light of a report that addressed the crisis of rising meat prices, Zawia3 conducted a survey that included 100 participants from various governorates, most of them in the 25–40 age group and with a university education. The survey found that 89% of them had seen their purchasing power decline, while 96% indicated that the main reason is rising prices. 43% reported that their consumption of meat has become only once a month, while 73% resort to buying smaller quantities, and 79% feel that the inability to buy meat affects their sense of dignity.
Data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics indicate that the poverty rate reached 29.7% in mid-2024, while unofficial estimates indicate the existence of “invisible” poverty that the official figure does not include, but which is reflected in the ability to secure animal protein.
When Meat Becomes a Luxury: Egypt’s Struggle for Affordable Food
Urgent Appeals to Save the Red Sea and Protect the Heritage Zohriya Garden in Zamalek
Fishermen and residents of Hurghada revealed a grave threat to the marine environment as a result of large boats using destructive fishing methods anchoring near the Giftun and Makadi islands, which has led to a decline in fish stocks and a negative impact on the livelihoods of fishermen and on tourism. The head of the Egyptian Fishing Federation, Mohamed Qaddah, affirmed that the use of shark-fishing nets threatens biodiversity, demanding that GPS/MMS tracking be imposed on all boats and that compliance with prohibited zones be monitored.
In a separate context, the Egyptian Foundation for Environmental Rights appealed for a halt to the project to develop the heritage Zohriya Garden pending a comprehensive environmental impact assessment study and guaranteeing the preservation of its historical and heritage value, expressing its readiness to provide an alternative design that takes into account international maintenance methods.
Ahmed El-Saidi, environmental lawyer and director of the Egyptian Foundation for Environmental Rights, affirms that the foundation submitted a complaint and an urgent appeal to the Cabinet presidency demanding a halt to all development plans under way in the garden.
In statements to “Zawia3”, El-Saidi explains that the complaint included the presentation of a scientific alternative prepared by a number of specialised engineers, aimed at restoring and conserving the garden in a way that preserves its natural resources and its rare and heritage trees. He adds that this proposal offers a practical vision for developing the garden without harming its environmental components or violating the laws and the constitution.
The director of the Egyptian Foundation for Environmental Rights points out that the announced development plans “are not based on any scientific foundation”, affirming that responding to the alternative proposal would protect the garden and preserve its environmental and heritage value, and at the same time achieve the desired development in a sustainable way.
Likewise, MP Samira El-Gazzar, a member of the House of Representatives for the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, submitted a parliamentary question to the Speaker of the House for referral to the Prime Minister about an alleged plan to bulldoze the Zohriya Garden in the Zamalek district and remove trees and green spaces to establish restaurants, amusement facilities, a hotel, exhibitions and a theatre, considering that any construction on the garden or the banks of the Nile constitutes a violation of the constitution and citizens’ rights. El-Gazzar demanded that the plan be re-studied in a way that preserves the environmental and heritage character of the garden, compliance with the requirements of the National Organisation for Urban Harmony, and the formation of a joint committee to follow up on the matter and the summoning of the Prime Minister to discuss it.
5. Workers’ rights and protection from dismissal
A Constitutional Challenge to the Law on Dismissal for Drug Use
In a precedent, the first of its kind, Court of Cassation lawyer and workers’ rights defender Mostafa Zaki filed a constitutional challenge against Law No. 73 of 2021, known as the “Law on Dismissal for Drug Use”, following a permission issued by the Alexandria Court of Appeal in August 2025. The challenge rests on several constitutional justifications, most notably: squandering the worker’s right to defend himself, turning dismissal into an automatic procedure outside judicial oversight, the disproportionality of the penalty between occasional use and addiction, and violating the principle of social protection by punishing the worker with dismissal without treating the disease of addiction.
Mostafa Zaki tells “Zawia3” that the number of those affected may range between 50,000 and 100,000 workers, which constitutes a wide-scale social crisis. He also points to cases in which workers were dismissed for exceptional reasons, such as being medically unable to take the test at the specified time, or taking medicines that affected the result, or even cases that were undergoing treatment programmes under the supervision of the Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction. “Despite these circumstances, their owners were not given any opportunity for explanation or grievance, as company administrations and judges were subjected to a single mechanism that does not take into account the differences between cases,” as he put it.
Zaki stresses that the new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 included some ways out, as it stipulated that drug testing be carried out in two specified hospitals, with the necessity of opening an investigation and referring the matter to the court, which was considered a partial amendment to the mechanism of Law 73. However, Zaki believes that the radical solution lies in amending the law itself, so that it includes a gradual mechanism of punishment, relies on more accurate tests, and takes into account medical conditions and the worker’s professional history.
He warns that keeping the law in its current form “constitutes a ticking time bomb”, as it may push thousands of those dismissed, particularly those recovering from addiction, towards collapse and sliding into dangerous behaviours because of the cutting off of their source of livelihood, stressing that media and societal pressure on the legislator to make urgent amendments is no longer an option but a necessity.
Rights Demands to Protect Women Agricultural Workers and Uphold Workers’ Rights
Rights and trade union organisations offered their condolences to the victims of the Regional Ring Road accident in Menoufia, which claimed the lives of 19 women agricultural workers and injured others while they were travelling to work for meagre wages and in unsafe transport conditions, affirming that the accident reflects the fragility of women workers’ conditions despite the unified Labour Law 2025 entering into force. The organisations demanded that the Ministry of Labour activate inspection mechanisms, guarantee the application of the minimum wage in the agricultural sector, and improve the infrastructure of rural roads, in addition to enabling women workers to organise in trade unions and defend their rights.
In a related context, the New Woman Foundation announced its solidarity with the workers of the Nile Linen Group company in Alexandria, who entered an open-ended strike in protest at repeated violations including delays in paying wages and depriving some women workers of their legal rights. The strikers demanded the application of the minimum wage, compliance with legal working hours, the payment of risk allowances, and the provision of occupational safety standards. The foundation stressed that these violations constitute an infringement of inherent rights guaranteed by the constitution and international conventions, calling on the Ministry of Labour to intervene urgently and hold violators accountable.
6. Women’s rights, equality and reproductive health
Women Judges on the Bench of the State Council: A Historic Step Awaiting Completion
Feminist organisations welcomed the decision to appoint the first batch of women judges to the State Council, considering it a historic victory after more than 75 years of struggle against exclusion, from the lawsuit of Dr Aisha Rateb in 1949 to the “The Bench Is Her Right” campaign. The Bint El-Nil Foundation affirmed that the decision is not a grant but a constitutional entitlement, while the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance stressed that it is the fruit of the accumulated efforts of hundreds of women activists and rights defenders over long decades.
Despite the importance of the step, which included about 48 women judges among 207 appointees by presidential decree, the organisations pointed out that full equality requires a clear plan to increase the proportion of women in the judiciary, in line with the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Women 2030. They demanded the allocation of exceptional batches for appointing women judges and the activation of the legal provisions that allow women lawyers to join the judiciary, affirming that the presence of women on the judicial bench will strengthen understanding of the gender dimensions of cases, and will constitute the beginning of changing the reality of women and marginalised groups within the judicial system.
A Lawsuit to Raise the Maximum Alimony for Divorced Women
The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights announced that the Administrative Court referred, on 2 August, a lawsuit demanding an increase in the maximum alimony disbursed by Nasser Social Bank to divorced women and their children to the State Commissioners Authority, and set 15 November for its consideration.
The Center explained that the plaintiff obtained a ruling for alimony of EGP 1,000 per month, but was surprised that the bank disburses only EGP 500, according to a ministerial decision dating back to 2004 that has not been amended for 20 years, despite inflation and the multiplication of the bank’s resources. It affirmed that continuing to apply this low ceiling constitutes a violation of the constitution and of the international agreements that guarantee women and children the right to alimony and a dignified life.
A Community Campaign to Discuss Natural and Caesarean Birth in Egypt
The Idraak Foundation for Development and Equality launched a campaign under the slogan “#Not_Every_Caesarean_Is_Necessary”, in partnership with feminist organisations, aimed at opening a community discussion about the high rates of caesarean births in Egypt, which exceed normal rates by almost five times, often without real medical reasons. The campaign aims to shed light on women’s rights to make an informed decision about the type of birth, and to raise awareness of the risks and procedures associated with natural and caesarean birth, while the initiative “Safe Medical Care for Women” welcomed the recent regulatory measures of the Ministry of Health aimed at reducing medically unjustified caesarean births, calling for the code of professional conduct for medical care providers to be generalised to all hospitals to guarantee safe healthcare that protects the privacy and dignity of women.
