Introductory seminar on the UPR Tookh

The Civil Society Organizations Alliance and the Egyptian National Association are organizing a youth and community meeting

Aqeel: The periodic review contributes to making people's lives better, provided that all stakeholders cooperate

With the participation of a group of youth and student cadres, natural leaders and representatives of civil society organizations, a meeting was held Civil Society Organizations Coalition for the Universal Periodic Review Through the Egyptian National Society for Human Rights Development (member of the coalition), an introductory seminar at Toukh Center in Qalyubia Governorate, with the participation of Professor Ayman Aqil, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights as a guest and a keynote speaker at the symposium.

The symposium comes within the framework of the coalition's plan to spread awareness of the universal periodic review mechanism, and to motivate its members to reach the closest possible point for citizens, and to transform the issue of international mechanisms to protect human rights from an elitist issue to a public issue that concerns every Egyptian citizen in the countryside and urban and in places far from the lights and the capital, which is what The coalition and the National Assembly led to holding their symposium in the districts of Toukh Center, which is 50 kilometers from the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

It is worth noting that the Egyptian National Society for Human Rights Development participated in the training program to enhance the capacity of civil work organizations to communicate with the universal periodic review mechanism through the UPR project as a tool to improve public policies during the transitional phase implemented by the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights with funding from the European Union During 2016/2017.

Aqeel praised the activity of the partner organizations in the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for the Universal Periodic Review in spreading awareness of the mechanism and bringing it closer to the understanding of citizens in various parts of the Arab Republic of Egypt, noting that this in itself is a great success for the efforts to advocate for reform based on the government's pledges In his speech, the head of the Maat Foundation dealt with an analysis of the UPR recommendations related to the concerns of citizens in the Toukh region and other deprived areas far from the capital, and he said that the mechanism and the recommendations emanating from it can contribute to making people's lives better on condition of cooperation And a partnership between all stakeholders, including government, citizens, and civil society in all its variations, the media and the private sector.

For his part, Hisham Abdel-Hamid, the representative of the Egyptian National Assembly stated that the association, through its membership in the coalition and through participation in the training program to “enhance the capacities of civil society organizations to effectively follow up on the recommendations of the universal periodic review” in its two phases, which were held in March and October 2016, Ensuring the transfer of the experiences and knowledge that it has gained about Egypt's international obligations and addressing local issues of human rights from this perspective, especially as the association seeks to reach a diverse group of beneficiaries on the ground, with youth cadres and local organizations that are not lucky enough to participate in the training program.

It is worth noting that the Civil Society Organizations Coalition for the Periodic Review had approved, in its meeting in August 2016, a comprehensive plan to spread awareness of the UPR and the relevant pledges of the Egyptian government, and to reach the largest possible number of citizens through informational seminars and local workshops.