The NGO Committee unanimously agrees to grant Maat consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council

Aqeel: Obtaining the consultative status is an international and international appreciation for Maat and its approach to work

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While constituting a new international and “international” appreciation for the role of the Maat Foundation in defending and promoting respect for human rights at the national and international levels, the NGO Committee of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations unanimously agreed with its members to grant the Foundation “consultative status in the Council. Meetings of the Ordinary Session currently held between January 25 - February 3, 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The Committee's approval for the Maat Foundation to obtain the consultative status of the United Nations Economic and Social Council comes as a culmination of its continuous path in communicating with international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, in particular the universal periodic review mechanism, to which the Foundation actively participated during the period from 2009 until now, and in the same context it cooperates The Foundation is currently with the European Union in implementing a project  The Universal Periodic Review as a Tool to Improve Public Policies during the TransitionTherefore, the institution’s acquisition of the consultative status will enable it to achieve greater successes in helping the Egyptian state to fulfill its international human rights obligations, and to implement what it has voluntarily committed to before the universal periodic review mechanism in March 2015.

 A delegation from Maat Foundation headed by Ayman Aqeel, the Foundation’s president, had participated in the committee’s meetings currently held in New York, where the delegation held interviews with members of the committee, and the delegation provided comprehensive responses to all the inquiries raised by the delegations of member states, which ultimately led to the approval of the members of the committee. By unanimously granting the Foundation the consultative status, the committee is expected to complete its work on February 3, 2016, provided that the committee meets again on February 16, 2016 to approve the report of the session that is submitted to the United Nations Economic and Social Council for approval and issuance of the official decision.

Ayman Aqil, president of Maat Foundation, stated that obtaining the consultative status of Maat gives the foundation the right to participate in the process of consultation with the international organization, and to express its views on issues discussed in international conferences and meetings or in placing items on its agenda, in accordance with the decision of the Economic Council Social Security No. 1296, also gives the institution the right to communicate with all human rights protection mechanisms and to prepare shadow reports parallel to government reports submitted to human rights treaty committees.

Aqeel also stressed that this achievement, represented by the approval of the Non-Governmental Organizations Committee to obtain the consultative status of Maat, is the culmination of continuous human rights and development work carried out by the Foundation over the past 11 years, as well as an international and international recognition of Maat Foundation's approach to work, which is mainly based On the basis of pure human rights values and mechanisms, and stresses that partnership and dialogue are the best means to achieve sustainable progress in the human rights situation in Egypt.

It is worth noting that the delegation of Maat Foundation in New York will continue its meetings and consultations with the delegations of the member states of the Committee and the members of the Economic and Social Council who participate in the session as observers over the coming days, in order to discuss a number of human rights files and convey the views of Maat to the representatives of the member states.