Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies urges permanent partnership with civil society institutions

The Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS) called on the national civil society institutions to launch a permanent partnership with the ECSS to reinforce the positive momentum related to human rights issues.

The ECSS held a conference on Thursday titled 'Building a Post-Pandemic World...A Comprehensive Approach to Human Rights.”

Concluding the conference, the ECSS in a closing statement invited regional offices of international organizations in Egypt to set up a more comprehensive and dynamic cooperative framework.

This should provide a permanent channel for communication, cooperation and joint work with the ECSS.

The ECSS urged expanding the scope of the political field by inviting youth to join political parties and practice partisan work to develop their political capabilities and enable them to assume leadership positions.

It also launched a research program on local and international human rights files.

The ECSS called for renewing the role of the Presidential Pardon Committee while working to develop its work mechanisms in line with recent developments.

This is “in view of the positive role played by the [committee,] which was established based on a youth proposal presented during the first National Youth Conference 2016.

“Based on the reference by some of the attendees to specific issues, such as pretrial detention and the condemnation of some activities, the ECSS recommends that the legislative and judicial authorities concerned review the periods of pretrial detention, and work to find mechanisms to avoid lengthy detentions within the framework of a comprehensive plan to develop legislation and laws in response to developments and challenges, especially as a new world is being shaped by more advanced concepts and requires more flexible responses,” the statement read.

*The conference also concluded a number of recommendations:

- The pandemic has revealed the need to put in place “early warning” mechanisms. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the coronavirus as a pandemic on 11 March 2020, that is nearly four months after its appearance. A long time was lost that could have contributed to saving people’s lives and curbing its spread.

- The coronavirus crisis has urged the necessity of expanding the authority of the WHO, in a manner similar to that of the UN Security Council which is empowered to maintain international peace and security, based on its role in protecting human health. The role of the WHO should be expanded to ring alarm bells, motivate countries to cooperate and share experiences accurately, and encourage the global medical and scientific community to confront the pandemic.

- Emphasizing the need to confront all forms of inequality related to the right to health, foremost among which is fair access to vaccines and various types of treatment.

- The need to provide all forms of support and protection for women against threats to their health.

- Establishing additional protection and care programs for children in poor and marginalized areas to ensure their growth in an appropriate environment.

- The provision of additional support to refugees and migrants during catastrophes, especially healthcare crises.

- The need to consider adopting more flexible, inclusive, and dynamic educational systems to avoid disruptions in times of crises.

- Emphasizing the right to digital transformation and the need to bridge knowledge gaps.

- Mobilizing resources regionally and internationally to stimulate sustainable development efforts that take into account the rights of present and future generations as well as environmental dimensions.

- Discussing a new tripartite social contract between the state, citizens, and civil society with regard to facing exceptional and emergency situations to confront the pandemic.

- Emphasizing the role of soft power as a tool to confront crises facing societies, including health crises.

- Stressing the importance of the role of civil society – a key pillar in a better post-coronavirus world – in promoting human rights, being a multi-dimensional issue.

Human Rights Day 2020

The Human Rights Day 2020, marked on 10 December, was held under the theme “Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights”. The chosen theme, in sync with the Covid-19 pandemic, stressed the importance of looking at human rights from a multi-faceted, comprehensive perspective.

The coronavirus outbreak has uncovered the deeply rooted imbalances that human rights suffer from domestically and globally, which contributed to extending the repercussions of the pandemic. The virus has hit all world countries, striking societies at their core, and threatening them on the health, social, political, and economic fronts. The pandemic has elevated poverty levels and nurtured inequality, discrimination and exclusion. It has also exacerbated decades-long challenges, such as violence and conflict, unemployment, and weak social safety nets. The coronavirus crisis has raised questions about the balance related to human rights, foremost among which are citizens’ lives versus economics, democracy versus authoritarianism, privacy versus censorship, and finally, the relationship between the legitimacy of regimes and their ability to confront the pandemic.

It appears that the world will enter the phase of “recovery” while being exhausted, less wealthy, and more tense, which calls for new global arrangements, especially since the existing ones that emerged after World War II do not seem appropriate to deal with the emerging global dilemmas. This is in addition to what looks like a retreat in the UN role towards contemporary global problems.

It is safe to assume that the world is facing unprecedented challenges; not even when the Spanish flu took the lives of 50 million people. Back then, there was no international organization nor an international human rights structure. Therefore, it seems clear that the world is facing a defining historical moment.

Therefore, the key message of the Human Rights Day focused on ensuring that human rights are fundamental to post-coronavirus recovery efforts, believing in the inability to achieve common global goals without providing equal opportunities for all and addressing inequalities, exclusion, and discrimination. In other words, the message stressed the importance of human rights in rebuilding the world we want to live in and the need for global solidarity and interdependence.