Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood’s first women’s division, the Muslim Sisters Group, was created in 1932. Since then, women activists have been at the forefront of the social and political struggle of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, which seeks to establish a democratic political system in the country with an Islamic frame of reference. Women activists advocating for an Islamic political system through the Brotherhood believe that Islam brought justice to women.

Parliament contemplates an overhaul of the 89-year-old Personal Status Law regulating marriage, divorce and child custody issues.
To read the full article please visit the Egypt Today website.

An Administrative Judicial Court ordered the Lawyers’ Syndicate elections be held on May 23, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, and rejected cases filed against the incumbent chairman running for another term.The elections have been postponed three times since October 2008.
To read the full article please visit Daily News Egypt's website.

A member of the People’s Assembly (PA) filed a request to annul the law that permits khol’, or a women’s right to divorce.Nine years after its introduction, the law is once again the subject of debate with Independent MP Mohamed Al-Omdah arguing that it contradicts with Islamic teachings.On Thursday, Al-Omdah asked the PA, to change Article 20 of the personal status law that allows women to divorce their husbands, provided that they pay back their dowries (mahr) and other presents.

In recent years, Egypt has witnessed increasing participation by women in grassroots political activism. Local civil rights advocates attribute the phenomenon to novel means of communication and organisation, especially the social networking website Facebook.
To read the full article please visit the IPS New Agency website.

Egypt's parliament has passed a law allocating a quota of 64 seats in the lower house to women, in what a minister said on Monday was aimed at promoting their role in society. The new law adopted on Sunday will give women more than 12 percent of the seats in an expanded parliament after the next election due in 2010, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mufid Shehab said.
To read the full article, please visit AFP's Website.

The sudden change of the Egyptian media is worrying for all those who understand the moral responsibility of the press and the ethics it is supposed to adhere to and respect. It was shocking to see the rhetoric of all the newspapers change suddenly overnight, reflecting political hypocrisy. 

A revolution for the Egyptian press?

Egyptian women played a critical role in the revolutionary protests that brought down former president Hosni Mubarak last month. But as Egypt transitions toward a new government, questions are being raised about whether women will gain a stronger role in politics.

For more information, please visit: VOAnews

A group of some 16 women organization announced on Sunday the launch of the Women’s Organizations Coalition in a press conference discussing the role of Egyptian women in formulating and building a democratic country after the January 25 revolution. Some of the organizations participating in the coalition are the New Woman Foundation, Egyptian Women for a Better Society and Egyptian Women with Change, that was established a day after ElBaradie came to Egypt to support his views.

For more information, please visit: Bikyamasr