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Muslim Brotherhood Against CSW Agreed Conclusions

20 April 2013

What follows is the response of the Women’s National Council of Egypt (WNCE) representatives of which were in New York participating in the Commission on the Status of Women’s 57th Session to an online statement the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo opposing the CSW draft document.

The statement was closely echoed by Mrs Camilia Hilmy, President of the International Islamic Commission for Woman and Child, a non-governmental organisation in Egypt. Mrs Hilmy’s statement was published on Al Huriya wal Adala, the media outlet of the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, giving it the status of official government opinion.

Women’s National Council of Egypt Statement

The WNCE categorically rejects the statements of the Muslim Brotherhood  published by the Freedom and Justice Party as having no basis;

  1. The final CSW agreed conclusions had not been released when the statement was made. It was still under negotiation by international delegations and UN entities and was not concluded until 16th March 2013. Therefore the opposing statements are anticipatory but do not respond to an agreed document.
  2. The statements make claims that are exaggerated and untrue. While it reaffirms international actions and commitments, the International Commission on Women cannot impose any decisions about the different laws and customs of sovereign states. As always with international decision-making, the implementation of agreements is at the discretion of Member States.
  3. We note that the statements were drafted by Mrs Hilmy, who is known to adopt an aggressive ideology towards international conventions related to women including CEDAW, the International Conference on Population and Development (1994) and the Beijing Platform for Action (1995). The statements issued do not say anything new and do not respond to the specific discussions in at CSW57 in 2013. She simply repeats what she has said for years, at every United Nations meeting related to women’s issues.
  4. The Muslim Brotherhood statement states that signing the CSW57 draft document “would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries, eliminating the moral specificity that helps preserve the cohesion of Islamic societies.” This incendiary language justifies false claims that ending violence against women is a violation of Sharia, conflicts with Islamic principles, destroy Islamic morals, and destroys the institution of the family. Statements such as these are not only inaccurate and aggressive but convey a bad image of Islam to the international community and undermine Egypt’s role at the United Nations.
  5. The statements claim to object specifically to ten points in the CSW57 draft document, namely: inheritance, divorce, guardianship, the marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim, freedom of girls, and the rights of homosexuals or prostitutes. However, none of these points is ever mentioned in the CSW57 draft and the CSW57 Agreed Conclusions do not encompass a single one of these points. The statements issued in Cairo, therefore, are deliberately mendacious and misleading. Their intention is to prevent discussion of the actual contents of the Agreed Conclusions and to distract Egyptian citizens from holding their government to account for obligations agreed at the United Nations, of which Egypt is a full Member State.
  6. The CSW Agreed Conclusions are the result of on-going negotiations at the United Nations between representatives of Permanent Missions and government delegations. It is difficult to imagine that fifty-four Islamic states, all of which are committed to protecting Islamic religion and culture, feel no sympathy or concern about how to unite in the global struggle to end violence against women and girls. In publishing the uninformed opinions of a single representative of one non-governmental organisation on their official websites, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party are effectively discrediting other delegations from the Muslim world and showing disrespect to the United Nations, which is governed by the principles of the Charter established in 1945.
  7. It is not in Egypt’s interests as a Member State to endorse such falsifications, to isolate itself and stand in opposition against other states. In the past, Egypt was known as a country that mediated between its citizens and worked to resolve international conflicts. Egypt’s citizens have been ambassadors for the country, including in the international arena, for many years. Just as Egypt will not allow impositions from outside that are unfit to its own culture and customs, it should remain fully aware of and respect the different cultures and customs of other countries.

 It seems that this is also happening in Yemen, Libya, and Morocco. What can you share with us?

 

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

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In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

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WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

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