We present this submission in advance of the 96th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (‘the Committee’), taking place between 6 – 24 May 2024, to support the Committee’s review of the State of Egypt. This submission has been submitted jointly by Equality Now, Ibrahimia Media Centre, Blooming Rose Coptic Association, Farah Foundation for Development, Egyptians Without Borders, Sabaya El Kheir Association, and the Egyptian Foundation for Family Development.
This report is submitted as part of the Young Women for Awareness, Agency, Advocacy, and Accountability (YW4A) program implemented in Palestine, Egypt, Kenya, and South Sudan. The program’s long-term outcome is to strengthen and diversify young women’s participation and amplify their voices to effectively influence decision-making toward gender-just laws, policies, norms, and practices related to their bodily integrity and equal participation.
The issues and practices detailed in our report highlight the State’s failure to fulfil its duty to protect girls from harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in accordance with Article 24 (3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and general recommendation number 18 of CRC, discriminatory inheritance practices in accordance with Article 2 of CRC, legal protections for children in digital spaces in accordance with CRC General Recommendation No. 25, and guardianship rights free from sex discrimination and guided by the principle of the best interests of the child in accordance with Article 9 of CRC.