Efforts to improve human rights are part of state's development plan: Egypt FM

Ahram Online , Sunday 18 Oct 2020

The Egyptian foreign minister attended a meeting of the advisory board formed to prepare the first national strategy for human rights

Sameh Shoukry
File photo: Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (Photo: AP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that national efforts exerted to enhance the human rights situation in Egypt are based on the president’s directives that the state should care for all forms of human rights, including political, economic, social, cultural and civil rights, a press release said.

During a committee meeting held to prepare the first national strategy for human rights, Shoukry, who is also head of the country’s permanent committee for human right, said that these efforts are part of a comprehensive national development plan.

The permanent committee, formed as per a decree from Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in 2018, is headed by the foreign minister and has representatives from the ministries of defence, justice, social solidarity, parliamentary affairs and the interior, as well as from the General Intelligence Service, the Administrative Control Authority and other authorities.

Shoukry said that this plan stems from a belief that human rights are an essential component of a modern civil state.

Referring to the first comprehensive long-term strategy Egypt has prepared to enhance the human rights situation, Shoukry said it reflects a firm political will to boost national efforts by adopting a comprehensive approach to promote fundamental rights and freedoms.

The foreign minister affirmed that this approach is characterised by a clear vision and planning strategy.

Shoukry said that many sessions will be held soon in the capital and some other governorates, adding that civil society representatives will take part in consultations.

Ahmed Gamal El-Din, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights, said the strategy is considered a comprehensive national project that aims to integrate human rights goals and principles into the country’s ambitious development project.

The preparatory stage of the strategy included a full assessment of the country’s needs in the field of human rights implementation, studying and comparing relevant international experiences, and reviewing relevant workplans and national strategies already implemented to achieve integration between them and the new strategy, Gamal El-Din said.

Gamal El-Din also affirmed that the technical secretariat of the permanent committee has reviewed, classified and monitored final recommendations issued to Egypt by international and regional forums on human rights in order to make sure they are properly implemented.

The advisory board for the new strategy is formed of 25 public figures and experts in different fields who will contribute by drafting the strategy.

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