Founded 2001 Location Heliopolis Website Official website | Type Non-profit Area served Egypt | |
Key people Magdy Abdel Hamid (Chairman)
Afaf Marei (Vice-Chairman) |
The Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (EACPE, Arabic: الجمعية المصرية للنهوض بالمشاركة المجتمعية) is an independent non-governmental organization based in Cairo, Egypt. EACPE is engaged in the issues of democracy development, human rights and gender equality.
Contents
Goals
EACPE was founded in 2001 with the goal of promoting democratic development and improving the human rights situation in Egypt. It works toward these goals by raising awareness of political and human rights among the population and building capacities of various organizations, networks and coalitions. The organization works closely with other non-profit organizations as well as youth organizations, trade unions and political parties.
Programs
The organization’s activities fall under the umbrella of the following three programs.
Democracy Development Program
This program aims to build up pressure for democratization and political reform by strengthening the active role of citizens and civil society. In working towards this goal, EACPE uses two approaches: First, it attentively observes the political process, thus holding the government accountable. The organization has monitored various elections. For example, it has monitored the parliamentary elections in November–December 2010 as part of a non-partisan coalition, after the Administrative Court overrode a decision of the Supreme Committee for Elections, which had denied the EACPE permission to observe the elections. The organization also observed the referendum on the constitutional amendments in March 2011 and plans to observe the elections that will take place in 2011 following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and the dissolution of parliament. Second, EACPE regularly organizes conferences, workshops and other events for NGOs, politicians and other civil society actors as well as for the general public, aiming to raise awareness and to build the capacities of the civil society to act towards democratic change.
Gender Equality Program
The Gender Equality Program aims to improve the status of women in the Egyptian society legally, socially and culturally. EACPE is part of the CEDAW Coalition, an alliance of several NGOs that observes the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and advocates the removal of the reservations made by the Egyptian Government on this convention. EACPE is also member of the Woman Rights Network. In addition, the organization attempts to draw public attention to women rights issues through the publication of reports about violence and discrimination against women as well as through the organization of events.
Human Rights Education Program
The goal of this program is to promote the values of human rights among the Egyptian youth. EACPE regularly visits schools to familiarize school children of different ages with concepts like human rights, citizenship and tolerance. So far, the program has been implemented in 125 schools in five governorates.