C-Fam Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of Egypt, 48th Session of the UPR, Human Rights Council – January 2025

By C-Fam Staff | July 17, 2024

January 2025, Geneva, Switzerland

EGYPT

The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) is a nongovernmental organization that was founded in 1997 and has held Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council since 2014. We are headquartered in New York and Washington, D.C., and are a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and advocacy organization that is dedicated to reestablishing a proper understanding of international law, protecting national sovereignty, and the dignity of the human person.

INTRODUCTION

  1. In 2020, the ministers and high representatives of 34 countries met to launch the Geneva Consensus Declaration, in which they committed to promoting four objectives: improve women’s health, protect human life, strengthen the family as the basic unit of society, and defend the sovereignty of nations regarding their laws and policies to protect life.[1] Egypt was one of the original signatories and sponsors of the Geneva Consensus Declaration. This report focuses on Egypt’s fulfillment of its commitments to human rights in the context of the four pillars of the declaration.

THE GENEVA CONSENSUS DECLARATION

  1. The language of the Geneva Consensus Declaration is drawn exclusively from documents agreed by consensus, including core UN human rights treaties, the founding documents of the UN such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and major meeting outcomes such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population Development.

PROTECTING WOMEN’S HEALTH

  1. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), nations pledged “to enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant.”[2] This commitment is echoed in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, alongside reaffirmations of the importance of women’s equal rights and their contributions to society, both in terms of education, employment, and civic engagement and through the family. The unique and essential role of women as mothers was recognized in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women.[3] Both of these landmark conferences, as well as the subsequent Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, include commitments to reduce maternal and child mortality, and while significant progress has been made around the world, critical gaps remain, especially for those in the poorest, most remote, and resource-deprived areas.
  2. According to the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), Egypt has seen a reduction in its maternal mortality ratio from 79 to 17 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2000 and 2020, a reduction of 79 percent, which was among the ten countries with the largest percent decrease in maternal deaths during that period.[4] In 2000, the government of Egypt launched its Mother and Fetus initiative providing screening and treatment for diseases passed from mother to child, aiming to reduce both maternal and child mortality by early detection and free medical care for those needing it. As of June 2024, the Ministry of Health & Population announced that 2.7 million women have received screenings.[5] Egypt has also emphasized the importance of the first thousand days of life, from the beginning of pregnancy to the first two years of a child’s life, where numerous important developmental milestones are achieved. In particular, the initiative seeks to increase Egypt’s low rate of breastfeeding and reduce its high rate of cesarean sections, as well as reducing stunting and anemia.[6] According to the World Bank, less than 85-87 percent of both girls and boys complete lower secondary education, with girls having a slightly higher percentage. This rate is significantly higher than the regional levels in the Middle East and North Africa as well as lower-middle income countries more broadly. However, adult female literacy does lag behind that of men (68.9 percent as compared to 80 percent) and workforce participation by women is much lower.[7]
  3. Abortion is prohibited in Egypt with exceptions to save the life of the mother, if there is a grave risk to the mother’s health, or in cases of rape, according to Articles 260-264 of the Penal Code of 1937.[8] It is notable that Egypt has maintained its low maternal mortality, and even has been a global leader in continuing to reduce its maternal mortality rate, without liberalizing its legal protections for the unborn. A study of private obstetricians/gynecologists from one region of Egypt found that the majority have religious objections to performing abortions.[9]
  4. As a leader in the Geneva Consensus Declaration coalition, Egypt is setting an important example by prioritizing maternal health care and achieving large reductions in maternal mortality while also emphasizing the life and needs of the child both before and after birth. These achievements, as well as further improvements in outcomes for women and girls in the areas of health care, education including literacy, and good nutrition, do not require and are not helped by the liberalization of Egypt’s legal protections for the life of the unborn.

PROTECTING HUMAN LIFE

  1. As mentioned previously, abortion remains highly restricted in Egypt, and there is evidence that many obstetricians/gynecologists would object to performing abortions even if the legal grounds were expanded.
  2. In its previous UPR sessions, Egypt has not received recommendations explicitly calling for the liberalization of its abortion laws, which are entirely consistent with its human rights obligations as set out in the binding human rights treaties ratified by Egypt as well as other international agreements. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), as quoted in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, states that “any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.” The standard set at the ICPD has been repeatedly reaffirmed by international consensus, including at the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. No global human rights treaty ratified by Egypt assets a human right to abortion, or could reasonably be interpreted as including such a right.
  3. As a signatory to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, Egypt has expressed its position that abortion is not an international human right. It is therefore consistent with this position that Egypt and other members of the Geneva Consensus Declaration coalition would reject any and all UPR recommendations to liberalize their abortion laws, as such recommendations are not only inconsistent with national laws and priorities but also outside the scope of internationally agreed human rights standards and obligations.

SUPPORT FOR THE FAMILY

  1. The Geneva Consensus Declaration reaffirms the obligations of States regarding the family enshrined in international law, including the definition of the family as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” and recognition that it is “entitled to protection by society and the State.” Signatories to the Geneva Consensus Declaration further committed to “support the role of the family as foundational to society and as a source of health, support, and care.”[10] In its Constitution, Egypt states that “Family is the basis of society and is based on religion, morality, and patriotism. The state protects its cohesion and stability, and the consolidation of its values.”[11]
  2. In Egyptian law, there is no recognition of same-sex relationships. Homosexual behavior is not explicitly illegal, although it is disapproved of by a large majority of Egyptians. In Egypt’s previous Universal Periodic Reviews, it has received a small number of recommendations to not use laws against immoral behavior to criminalize homosexual activity and to formally include sexual orientation in its laws against discrimination. All recommendations to Egypt on the topics of sexual orientation or gender identity have been marked as “noted” rather than “supported.” This consistent position of Egypt reflects the fact that these issues are not subjects on which global consensus exists, nor are they included as rights in any binding international legal instrument to which Egypt is a party. As summarized in the Family Articles, a project of the coalition Civil Society for the Family, the right to found a family is based on the union of a man and a woman, and “Relations between individuals of the same sex and other social and legal arrangements that are neither equivalent nor analogous to the family are not entitled to the protections singularly reserved for the family in international law and policy.”[12]
  3. All human beings possess the same fundamental human rights by their inherent dignity and worth, including the right to equal protection of the law without any discrimination.[13] Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc., are protected from violence and discrimination to the same extent as any individual under equal protection principle in human rights law. However, they are not entitled to special protections based on their sexual preferences and subjective gender identity as such.
  4. Egypt has made numerous recommendations in previous cycles of the Universal Periodic Review urging countries to protect the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society, echoing the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which specifically references it.

NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

  1. As stated in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, concerning the legal status of abortion and the protection of the unborn, it is a matter of longstanding consensus that “each nation has the sovereign right to implement programs and activities consistent with their laws and policies.” However, opposition to this sovereign right of countries has become increasingly commonplace in those parts of the United Nations system governed more by expert opinion or bureaucratic oversight than by the standard of negotiated consensus. There is no global mandate to pressure countries to liberalize their abortion laws or expand the categories for non-discrimination as a matter of international human rights law concerning, for example, sexual orientation or gender identity, and to the extent that mandate-holders engage in such behavior, they do so ultra vires.
  2. Nevertheless, the frequency of such pressure has only increased toward countries whose laws restrict abortion to protect the unborn, or which maintain a traditional view of marriage and the family, in line with the human rights obligations expressed in the binding treaties they have ratified. Such nonbinding opinions have been elevated in many parts of the UN, although they have never been accepted nor adopted by consensus in the General Assembly.
  3. The Geneva Consensus Declaration, by anchoring its every assertion in a document adopted by consensus, reaffirms the centrality of the family, the rights of women and children and the fact that these rights are not upheld by abortion, and the importance of national sovereignty, especially in those places where global consensus does not exist.
  4. Unlike other UN human rights mechanisms, the UPR provides a space for sovereign nations to speak to each other and provide encouragement to fulfill their human rights obligations. To the extent that this venue has been used to exert further pressure on countries to liberalize their abortion laws or redefine the family as a matter of national law and policy, global consensus on these matters must be upheld and promoted in the UPR as well, particularly by those countries that have already taken a stand in this regard by signing the Geneva Consensus Declaration.

CONCLUDING RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. We encourage Egypt to continue protecting the natural family and marriage, formed by a husband and a wife, as the natural and fundamental unit of society, and to continue calling on other UN Member States to do so, in line with the founding documents of the UN.
  2. Egypt should continue to set an example as a regional leader in improving maternal and child health outcomes. Following Egypt’s commitments in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, this does not require the inclusion of abortion.
  3. Egypt should continue to assert the fact that abortion is not a human right in the context of multilateral negotiations, as well as in the Universal Periodic Review, following the Geneva Consensus Declaration, and call on its fellow signatories to do likewise.

[1] Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family, 2020. Available at https://undocs.org/en/A/75/626

[2] United Nations International Conference on Population and Development. (1994). “Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population Development,” Cairo.

[3] United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. (1995). “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action” (Annex II, Paragraph 29). Beijing.

[4] World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and UNDESA/Population Division. Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020. Available at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240068759

[5] Government of Egypt, Ministry of Health & Population. 2.7mln women undergo tests as part of Mother & Fetus health initiative. 29 June 2024. Available at: https://www.sis.gov.eg/Story/193390/2.7mln-women-undergo-tests-as-part-of-Mother-%26-Fetus-health-initiative

[6] Egypt Today. “Egypt set to launch ‘1000 Golden Days’ initiative to develop Egyptian family.” July 28, 2023. Available at: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/125918/Egypt-set-to-launch-1000-Golden-Days-initiative-to-develop

[7] The World Bank, Gender Data Portal: Egypt. Available at: https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/economies/egypt-arab-rep

[8] Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute. Penal Code (Law No. 58 of the Year 1937 Promulgating the Penal Code) (with amendments through 2018): Articles 260-264 (Abortion). Available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/women-and-justice/resource/penal_code_%28law_no._58_of_the_year_1937_promulgating_the_penal_code%29_%28with_amendments_through_2018%29

[9] Ibrahim, Z. M., Mohamed, M. L., Taha, O. T., Ghoneim, Hanan. M., Mohamed, H. S., Abdellah, A. M., … Atwa, K. A. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and practice towards abortion and post abortion care among Egyptian private obstetricians and gynaecologists. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 25(4), 245–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/13625187.2020.1760239

[10] Geneva Consensus Declaration, ibid.

[11] Egypt. Egypt’s Constitution of 2014. Available at https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Egypt_2014

[12] Civil Society for the Family. The Family Articles. Available at https://civilsocietyforthefamily.org/

[13] United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948. Available at https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

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