Egypt is 1st country preserves women’s rights amid pandemic: NCW President

 

CAIRO – 8 April 2021:  Egypt was the first country worldwide that issued a policy paper on preserving women’s rights during the coronavirus pandemic, says head of the National Council of Women (NCW) Maya Morsy on Thursday.

 

Coronavirus pandemic could eradicate all efforts exerted in achieving gender equality, said Morsy in her speech at a human rights conference titled “Building a Post-Pandemic World...A Comprehensive Approach to Human Rights” and organized by the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS).

 

She added that the measures of full lockdown due to coronavirus increased domestic violence against women, saying “7 percent of Egyptian wives revealed that they exposed to husband violence physically and verbally during the pandemic.”

 

Morsy added that Egyptian women doctors constitute 42.4 percent of the medical staff, while female nurses form 91 percent of nursing personnel.

 

She mentioned vital measures and decisions taken by the Egyptian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Moustafa Madouli. The following are some of the announced measures:

- A 10-month leave of absence for pregnant women or female workers who have one or children under the age of two years.

- A a leave of absence to a female worker who takes care of child or children with special needs

- Increasing the number of beneficiaries from cash support within the Takaful and Karama program.

- Increasing the monthly revenues for rural women entrepreneurs.

- Taking care of women aged 65 years and over under the umbrella of social protection.

- Launching plans of financial inclusion for women, and their economic empowerment.

- Increasing the number of beneficiaries of soft and low-interest loans to working on micro-projects to improve the family's standard of living.

 

The post-pandemic strategy of the National Council of Women (NCW) is to intensify empower women economically, Morsy said in her speech.

 

The conference was attended by Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed, Minister of Planning Hala El Said, Minister of International Cooperation Rania El-Mashaat, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), and head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Cairo Delegation, Jerome Fontana, and other participants.

 

Egypt’s initiative of  “100 Million Seha” (100 Million Healthy Lives) for eliminating the virus C and detecting non-communicable diseases has saved millions of Egyptian lives during the coronavirus pandemic, said Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Thursday during the conference.

 

“We treated 2.2 million people infected with C virus. If we did not succeed in eradicating Hepatitis C disease, about 2.2 million Hepatitis C patients could die if they were infected with coronavirus because of the danger of the coronavirus virus to the liver patient,” said Zayed.

 

In his speech, Chief of the IOM Egypt Laurent De Boeck. said that hosting about 6 million migrants means that Egypt welcomes humans of other neighboring countries.

 

“I thank the Egyptian Minister of Health for the initiative of involving non-Egyptian migrants in Egypt’s health services,” he said, adding the migrants are not in refugee camps but they are indulging in the Egyptian society.

 

Egypt was one of the first countries that provided financial and psychological support in the health system during the coronavirus pandemic, says of WHO Representative in Egypt Naeema Al-Gasseer.

 

Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Cairo Delegation, Jerome Fontan. said that the world is facing difficult time, “as we are in the second year of the Coronavirus pandemic, and its impact is still felt.”

 

“I am sorry to say that we may face another difficult year in terms of the way in which the virus spreads and appears in other forms,” he continued.

 

War-stricken countries like Syria and Yemen suffer more from the coronavirus amid their bad health systems, he added.