As Egypt looks ahead to another presidential election, the situation of economic and social rights in the country continues to deteriorate and the promises of social justice made after the 2011 revolution remain unfulfilled. Against this worrying backdrop, a large coalition of some 130 organizations is taking the government to task at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Later this year Egypt will be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council\u2019s Universal Periodic Review mechanism for the first time since 2010. Ahead of the October session, a joint report endorsed by 51 non-governmental organizations and 79 labour unions, explaining the desperate state of economic and social rights in Egypt, has been submitted to the UN.<\/p>\n
The submission examines the continuing failure of successive governments to meet the recommendations of the Council after the 2010 review and the failure to address the aspirations of the Egyptian people as expressed in popular uprisings since January 2011.<\/p>\n
The policy-making of four consecutive governments has consistently refused to confront the root causes of socio-economic inequality that fueled the revolution. A worsening economic crisis, together with widespread corruption, failing public services and a pronounced lack of public participation in policy-making has been met only with ill-conceived austerity measures, short-term fixes based on borrowing, a repressive crackdown on dissent, and the failure to carry out desperately-needed impact assessments.<\/p>\n
Most urgently, the failure to address continuing human rights deprivations in Egypt jeopardizes the country\u2019s fragile transition, which will only prove sustainable if the government makes a truly human rights-based development trajectory its number one priority.<\/p>\n
The report analyzes the spread of social and economic inequality, addressing the shortcomings of the institutional framework provided by both the newly passed constitution and new and existing legislation. In a country where a quarter of the population lives in poverty, a third are unemployed and three out of every five children are malnourished, government measures to protect rights on the ground are not only absent, but instead are replaced by regressive measures undermining citizens\u2019 ability to access basic entitlements.<\/p>\n
As the accessibility and quality of food, housing, health and education has deteriorated, the policy making of successive governments has continued to ignore all demands for corrective measures such as tax reform, the rebalancing of budget allocations, and improved transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n
In the submission, NGOs and unions stress the
In run-up to October\u2019s HRC session the Egyptian government will also be required to present a report detailing its efforts to satisfy its international human rights obligations. A third report will meanwhile be submitted by the Council\u2019s own \u2018special mandates\u2019 \u2013 independent experts charged with assessing particular human rights issues and contexts. After the session takes place, the Human Rights Council will issue a set of recommendations to the Egyptian government.<\/p>\n