Maat organizes the first meeting of the steering committee for the project “Universal Periodic Review - Egypt 2014”

Aqeel: We were keen to invite the government to be a party to the project from the very beginning

Aqeel: We are not an opposition party, and our role is to assist the government in fulfilling its obligations

 

Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights held the first meeting of the steering committee for the project “The Universal Periodic Review as a Tool for Improving Public Policies during the Transition Period”, which is implemented by the Foundation with funding from the European Union over the years 2016-2017, on Wednesday 20 January 2016.

Note that the aim of the steering committee is to ascertain the progress of project activities and provide suggestions and advice to project management, and thus contribute to the regular review. And also engaging in ensuring the participation of beneficiaries and stakeholders, and making efforts to gain the support of local authorities, in addition to providing their groups concerned with developments and submitting their recommendations to the project team and the rest of the committee members during meetings and following up on the project schedule. The project's steering committee consists of 10 representatives of civil society organizations, parliamentarians, media professionals and activists. The committee meetings are held quarterly.

The meeting discussed the role of the steering committee and the first quarterly plan for the project, the importance of communicating with the government and its involvement in the project activities, given that the UPR process is a participatory process and that the Foundation was keen through the first activity of the project to represent the government during the inaugural conference of the project, the founding structure of the project and the role of members The team working on the project, and the work that was completed on the project during this month.

Ayman Aqeel, head of Maat Foundation, confirmed during the meeting that the project will be implemented in all governorates of the republic with the aim of maximizing the impact, with a focus on the qualitative distribution of the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project, and indicated that civil society's role is to help the government to abide by its pledges and civil society is not an opposition party.

According to Aqeel, the project's efforts target 18 million Egyptian citizens with the aim of informing them of the universal periodic review mechanism and Egypt's obligations and its implementation over the life of the project.

 

Recommendations:

1) The importance of involving national and local government agencies in the project efforts and activities,

2) Organizing a workshop for members of the Facilitation Committee to raise their knowledge of the universal periodic review mechanism and present the project in detail,

3) The need to take advantage of the partnerships and local networks of members of the Facilitation Committee with grassroots organizations in spreading the project's efforts,

4) The importance of NGOs choosing members of the coalition according to specific criteria to be able to spread project activities in their local communities.

5) Organizing qualitative meetings with members of Parliament who are members of the Facilitation Committee,

6) The need to focus on populist efforts and transfer the project to citizens and not be limited to intellectuals,

7) The necessity of presenting simple information in an attractive and innovative way that suits all target groups.

8) The importance of identifying the targeted media professionals, their work background, and the training materials on which they will receive training.

9) Press for activating the work of government agencies responsible for protecting citizen rights,

10) Work within schools and universities to deliver lectures on the universal periodic review and Egypt's implementation of its obligations.