Maya Morsy displays Egyptian women's 'unprecedented' achievement

CAIRO - 1 May 2019: Egypt's National Council for Women (NCW) has organized a seminar whose title literally translated into "the Egyptian Woman: the Origin of the Tale" on the sidelines of the 64th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) held in Sharm El Sheikh.

Chairman of the NCW Maya Morsy, Secretary General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Essam Shiha, and other members of the NCW have attended the seminar on Wednesday.

During the seminar, a documentary film was screened, to display Egyptian women's life and achievments in the modern era, and share the most important success stories along the path of empowering women and achieving gender equality.


Morsy said that there are some women who became pioneers in a number of fields that have been occupied by women for the first time - Egypt Today/Maher Eskandar
Morsy said that there are some women who became pioneers in a number of fields that have been occupied by women for the first time, and are taking part in decision making. She added that it is the first time for a woman to occupy the post of the president's advisor for national security affairs.

Women have turned to hold 15 percent of the parliamentary seats in 2018, compared to only 2 percent in 2013, which is considered the highest ever in the history of the Egyptian Parliament, Morsy continued.

She also referred to the increase in the number of women ministers gradually from 6 percent in 2015, to 20 percent in 2017, and then 25 percent in 2018, adding that it is also the highest ever in the Egyptian history in this regard.



Moreover, the percentage of female investors in the Egyptian stock exchange has increased by 30 percent, Morsy said, adding that some women have become in charge of micro-finance.

Such achievements have been part of the outcome of the Egyptian political management supporting women and working to apply their constitutional entitlements on the ground.

Referring to some of the women's achievements in the political field, Morsy said that Egyptian women rushed into streets on June 30, 2013 (Egypt's latest uprising) and took part in overthrowing the ruling Muslim Brotherhood regime at the time.



Also, the unemployment rate among women decreased from 24 percent in 2014 to 21.4 percent in 2018, then to 19.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, Morsy said. She added that girls currently make up 54 percent of the university students, while 46.5 percent of those holding a Master's degree and a PhD are women.

Egypt has been the first Arab country to start implementing gender equality, Morsy said, while the North African country has been the second to test the criteria of the Gender Seal, for the private and public institutions, acknowledging these bodies' special role and efforts to achieve gender equality.



As some proposed constitutional amendments were approved in April, Egyptian women has been granted entitlement to make up at least 25 percent (112 seats) of the House of Representatives' members.