July 06 Newsletter

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EDSN Launches Website
Maria Dayton

The Egyptian Democracy Support Network (EDSN) was founded in October of 2005 and is currently the largest such network in the Arab world. EDSN brings together NGOs, government officials, members of the media, and individuals from all over the world who are committed to freedom for the Egytian people. At the heart of EDSN is a highly committed core of Egyptian NGOs working tirelessly and courageously for the promotion of democracy in Egypt. These NGOs work together to monitor the democratization process and report back to EDSN members and international supporters with relevant information that can be acted upon to pressure the Egyptian regime to adopt liberal policies and implement real political reforms.

As part of its efforts towards that goal, EDSN launched its official website on July 17th at www.edsn.org. This website offers relevant information and in-depth analyses regarding the current status of the democratization process in Egypt as well as suggesting specific means whereby people or organizations can help in the process. At the time of this writing, the website is only in English, but we are in the process of translating it into Arabic.

Now is a particularly critical time for the entire democracy movement in Egypt. Many of its local leaders have been imprisoned and many others have been subjected to severe torture and various other forms of state oppression. It is therefore vital at this juncture that all available channels and tools of

support be utilized in order to both protect and give strength to local democratization efforts.

EDSN hopes that the website will grow to become an invaluable and potent tool used by all democratic forces within Egyptian civil society in their efforts to bring about representative government. We are continuously looking for good ideas, so suggestions for improvement are more than welcome.

EDSN members plan to meet in September 2006 in order to ways to further strengthen the network and to develop a new strategy for the coming year.

EDSN would like to encourage anyone who is interested in joining the network either as an individual or as part of an organization to please contact the network via email at edsn@edsn.org, or via our website.