Roundtable Report
University of Cairo, April 27th, 2006 Egypt
Roundtable organized by CAWTAR’s partner, the Barlaman Organization

The objective of the Roundtable was to discuss the findings of the on-site study on Egyptian Women’s Participation in Local Governance.
The roundtable was attended by 40 participants representing civil society groups, women leaders in local councils, experts and the media.

Deliberations:

1.  Dr. Ali Sawi, CAWTAR’s national project coordinator in Egypt, opened the roundtable by explaining the objective of the project and the main findings of his organization’s study on Egyptian Women and Local Governance.
   
2.  He discussed the status of women in local councils and election campaigns at both the local and national levels in terms of both positive factors and challenges. He remarked on the low participation of women in general.
   
3.  In light of his presentation, the roundtable discussion revolved around 6 issues:
    
   The structure of local governance and local electoral campaigns:
   Participants discussed the mistreatment of women voters by police, lack of legal protection for women and the dominance of financial influences on the electoral process. The absence of a support group for women voters and the regression of women's participation in the Egyptian national assembly from 13 to 9 after reforms of the quota system were also mentioned. One of the main reasons behind these problems is the complexity of the local governance structure and the way in which seats are designated. While many developed countries maintain two levels of local governance, Egypt has 5 levels: provincial, council, administration units, the center and neighborhoods. The adoption of a system of only 2 levels was strongly recommended. With respect to the relationship between this structure and the limited role of women, it has been found that designated powers become more limited at lower levels. As a result, there is a need for a constitutional amendment that provides for the devolution of powers to local levels. Widespread corruption at different local levels, due to the lack of understanding of the actual role elected officials are supposed to play and to the complexity of the administrative process, also discourage women from participating in this risky environment.
   
   The social culture and women’s initiative to participate in local governance:
   The participants noted the dominance of discriminatory practices and norms that have a disempowering effect on women. They stated that they believed the quota appointment system may be an avenue towards change. In addition, electoral lists do not currently represent all active political players including civil society organizations, political parties and independent candidates. The problem lies in the absence of representation of registered local groups and associations that could promote women's roles in local councils. Moreover, the legal voting age is 21 years while there are 25 million youth in Egypt under this age. This fact is worsened by the absence of groups representing youth in local councils. Participants reiterated the need for the imposition of quotas to encourage young women’s engagement in political life. Another issue discussed was the ambivalence of political parties and social institutions in supporting women’s electoral campaigns. This was clearly demonstrated when political parties failed to nominate women in the 2005 elections. Women also seem to lack consciousness of the necessity of their role in social transformation. This requires that particular attention be given to the existing awareness-raising campaigns so that they may assist in undoing discriminatory social practices which impede women’s participation in public life and in political activities.
   
   The opportunities available to women in local councils:
   It was noted that the majority of Egyptian women elected to the national council in 2000 represented conservative rural areas (ben suaif, alfayoum, almnia, swhag and asyout), as was true again in the local elections of 2002. The reasons behind this positive change indicate the weak electoral competition in rural localities compared to urban councils, the small size of popular support groups, and the low costs of local election campaigns in rural areas. However, compared to the percentage of the population which they represent, women’s opportunities to work in local councils are limited. This is due to: the dominant role of the political party in power which impairs the  competitiveness of the electoral environment; the sudden change of electoral ridings to benefit the interest of certain candidates representing the political party in power; the marginal political powers delegated to local councils especially in rural areas; the lack of power allocated to civil society organizations that help to monitor elections and their limited resources to reinforce the capacities of women leadership. In general terms, the performance of women who succeeded in being elected to local councils is positive. However, the opportunities for the vast majority of women are limited due to the complex electoral procedures.
   
   Training to politically empower women:
   The training will enable women to manage public debates, to create strategies for their electoral campaigns and more importantly to shape their political personality and consciousness. Training should also target different social actors to induce a transformation of the traditional images of women’s roles. There is a great need for training of trainers programs to build a cadre specialized staff on women’s leadership issues. The participants suggested the following: a focus on training for election monitoring; training for advocacy groups that will enable them to draft legislative amendment proposals; a focus on issues relating to transparency in public expenditure management and the delivery of public services in local councils; mentor-trained women leaders in their electoral campaigns; and the training of political parties to support women's campaigns. However, some participants raised concerns about the neutrality of this process in the context of political calculations and the accessibility of these party services to non-member women.
   
   Financing of Electoral Campaign:
   The numerous issues raised by participants on this topic resulted in the following: an expressed need for NGOs and civil society to offer moral support to women; strict governmental measures to create a ceiling on the budget allocated to electoral campaigns; voluntary work to compensate for the costs of electoral tasks, and legislative reforms to encourage in-kind donations.
   
    The role of the media:
   Participants discussed: the seasonal media coverage of women’s electoral campaigns; the need for press coverage of the campaigns of women candidates’ and the use of innovative means to influence the political ideas of the public; the training of media staff to better present women’s political roles; and specialized socio-political media programs to support women campaigns in local governance.