July 06 Newsletter

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New Report on the Plight of Rural Women
Land Center for Human Rights

According to a new report by the Egyptian Land Center for Human Rights (www.lchr-eg.org), rural women in Egypt suffer from particularly low rates of political participation, daunting economic and social conditions, and are poorly informed about their rights under Egyptian law.

The report, which was released on July 7th, places the results of field interviews in El Rahawa village in the Giza governorative with 20 women in the context of these larger negative socio-economic trends. The study is part of an ongoing LCHR program to monitor the economic, social, educational, health and political conditions of rural women in Egypt under the implementation of economic reform and the unified labor law, and their right to work.

The report presents a number of recommendations to improve the conditions of working women and protect their rights in Egypt, such as greater inclusion of women in the development process, the establishment of better schools for young girls and ederly women, and health centers in all Egyptian villages. LCHR calls upon Egyptian civil society to band together to acheive these goals.