The Statement is open for signature submission.

Second Joint Statement on Personal Status Law 

A Welcome to the document of the National Council for Women on personal status law; it’s urgent to open expanded community dialogue.

On the official website of the National Council for Women, we have read the document “Determinants and Legislative Requirements for Amendments to Personal Status Laws”. We express our appreciation for the prompt and remarkable response of the national machinery in dealing with the current momentum on personal status law. We hope that successive interventions of the national machinery will always be frequent at the level of introducing policies and proposals. 

The document “Determinants and Legislative Requirements for Amendments to Personal Status Laws” reflects the council’s interaction with the initiatives of the feminist movements. The document contains numerous theses and interventions in the draft personal status laws and other relevant drafts laws issued by civil society organizations.

The general framework of the document refers to six main points; the significant points are (the affirmation of the full-legal capacity of a woman, the protection of her rights and freedoms under the constitution, the preservation of her acquisitions, and the guarantee to obtain them). We propose to the general framework to add the personal status law based on the reference of binding international obligations and conventions on the rights of women and children. It is a constitutional obligation.

Regarding the problems and procedural aspects dealt with in the document, they were limited to predominant cases of women, while the National Council for Women document is supposed to reflect the interests of all Egyptian women without any discrimination. It is an inherent constitutional right of all citizens of both genders. This is prompting us to reaffirm the rule of law and the right to equality under the law for all without discrimination, as a major regulator to organize citizens’ relationships with each other with broad diversity and regulate everyone’s relationship with the state.

Tentatively, we highly value this document. However, it needs to open a dialogue about it and build a broad consensus that will promote priorities that cannot be regressed if the country witnesses a new personal status law. On the other hand, we emphasize the continuation of our movement towards a “civil law of personal status”. This will uphold the rule of the constitution and the law as a comprehensive reference for the citizenship of all Egyptians of both genders and uphold the rule of law in accordance with a harmonious constitution that organizes the relationship between citizens in the family. 

We hope that the National Council for Women will undertake several community dialogue events on the document. Also, we hope that the dialogue table will bring together a broad spectrum of stakeholders in a new personal status law with significant participation. Consideration of the draft law is not limited to the Ministry of Justice, apart from the visions and discussions of the feminist movement and civil society organizations.

Signatures of institutions and individuals;

Institutions:

New woman foundation 

Cairo Foundation for Development & Law 

Center for Egyptian Women Legal Assistance

El Nadim Center For Management & Rehabilitation of victims of violence

Tadwein Center for Social Gender Studies

Edraak Foundation for Development & Equality

Egyptian Without Borders Foundation 

The Forum for Women in Development

The National Front for Egyptian Women

Daughter of The Earth Association – Mansoura

Campaign for a Unified Civil Code of Personal Status

Superwoman initiative

Speak up initiative

Sanad initiative

Barah Amen initiative/ Safe space initiative

Sout to support women’s rights initiative

El Hak Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Human Rights

Volunteers Network for Development and Human Rights 

SAAND Program

Sabiya Association for Woman and Child 

Scientific Association for Horticultural Development 

Kahila Initiative

Women & Society Association

Individuals:

Bothaina Kamel- Mediaperson

Basant Hassan Salama – Writer and media person

Maha Al Aswad – Researcher

Shahinaz Abdel Salam – Feminist and engineer

Karima Abou El Nour – Political Psychologist

Samar Adel – Economist – Researcher in Political Psychology

Ilham Aidaros – Politician and translator

Rawya Karsha – An Egyptian citizen

Dr. Jihad Mohamed – Professor at the Agricultural Research Center

Nahla El Dabaa – Sabya Association for Women and Children

Heba Adel – Egyptian female foundation, Lawyer in cassation

Amira Abdel Hakim – Lawyer

Hala Mostafa – Egyptian citizen

Michael Raouf Helmy – Egyptian lawyer

Ahmed Mansour – Researcher 

Nadia Abdel Wahab – Doctor 

Amani Abu Zaid – Chairman of the board of directors of Amakan for Technical Services

Zainab Abdel Latif – Director of Helwan for Community Development 

Karima El Hefnawy – Pharmacist

Hayat El-Shimy – Artist

Amal El-Sayed – Researcher 

Faten Adly – Researcher

Ashraf El Bahrawy – Engineer

Mona Abdel Radi – Journalist

Somaya Mohamed Adly – Chemist 

Heidi Talaat Raei – Human resources Specialist

Dai Saad Rahmy – Translator

Shadia Mohamed Ali – Engineer 

Mona Hamed Emam – Doctor

Magda Adly – Doctor

Adel Ibrahim Omari – Doctor 

Hebatullah Ali Muhammad – Visual artist 

Dr. Mounir Mujahid – Engineer 

Nesma Al-Khatib – Lawyer 

Samuel Tharwat – Lawyer 

Ayat Al Habal – Journalist 

Rasha Al-Jabali – Syndicalist

Eman Al-Darby – Chief editor of Hawa magazine 

Yasmine Jibril – Doctor and public health researcher 

Rania Hilal – Journalist

Mona Abdel-Radi – Journalist

Suzanne Nada – Lawyer

Shadi Abdel Karim – Legal Researcher

Dr. Salwa El-Antari – Economic researcher

Omaima Imad El-Din – Founding member of the Bread and Freedom Party (under establishment)

Amal Mamdouh – Egyptian citizen

Mohamed Abdel Hakim Ibrahim – Cooperative Consultant 

Ashraf Abdel-Wanis El-Deljawi – Worker