Right to Development
The Declaration on the Right to Development issued on 4 December, 1986, linked between the rights previously mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the development process with all its social, economic and political dimensions.

The sustainable development process aims at alleviating poverty and providing equal opportunities for all people through the good governance, which is deemed the way to achieve all economic, social, cultural, civil and political human rights.

Human rights international conferences since the Vienna Conference on Human Rights (1993) and the international conferences following thereto (such as Child Conference in Yew York, Rio Conference on Environment, Cairo Conference on Population Problem, Copenhagen Conference on Social Development, Bejing Conference on Promoting Women's Role, Istanbul Conference on the Right to Permanent Dwelling, and Rome Conference on the Right to Food Security) asserted that all human rights are connectedly enhancing each other, and that the right to development is the major pivot to achieve the sustainable human development.

The developing countries' approval of the right to development means they are responsible before their people for realizing the economic development. On the other hand, the developed countries approval of this same right means they are responsible for assisting the developing countries that lack the financial and technical resources sufficient to realize the economic development.

From this point, effectuating the right to development requires governmental cooperation with the international community, which must provide aid for development on the one hand, and with the civil society organizations, which put the individuals' and peoples' interests before decision makers and businessmen on the other hand.

UNDP, collaborating with the UN Human Rights Commission and all the UN agencies and institutions and in participation with the governments, the civil society organizations and the private sector, works to enhance the right to sustainable human development in many fields, such as:

* The right to food, health care, housing and economic security.
* The right to education, knowledge and information.
* The right to work as it is the duty of officials to provide productive job opportunities and maintain labourers' rights.
* Child right to health, social care and protection against violence and abuse.
* The right to equality, including women and minorities rights and protecting them against discrimination.

* The right to protecting the environment from pollution and deterioration.
UNDP is also concerned with programmes that support equality among individuals as regards enforcing law, political participation, democracy and enhancing institutions of governance.

UN and Enhancing Development in Egypt
UNDP is a small programme, and its aid is unconditional. It cooperates with Egypt in various issues through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also negotiates with ministries in determining general directions, not specific subjects.

UNDP in Egypt works with about twenty specialized agencies affiliated to UN, as their annual financial supply to Egypt ranges annually from $ 30 to 50 million.

Moreover, this programme works on creating job opportunities to face one of the main problems in Egypt. It also works in the International Programme for Improving Environment in four main sectors, i.e., the biological diversity sector, water sector, sector of energy and its pollution and desert sector.

UNDP cooperates through these four sectors with the Environment Affairs Agency and the Ministry of Environment and is financed by Universal Environment Utility.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) gives hand to Egypt as well in the agricultural projects.

UNDP also publishes an annual report entitled “Human Development Report”, which illustrates some of the development problems existing in Egypt.

Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Rights to expression and freedom of publication and opinion began to be deeply rooted long time ago. Although charts of these rights are codified on the national, regional and international levels, the information and publication fields have become important to the extent that they have become controversial, when talking about determining the rights and duties of information and media.

These rights are important because they respect the person and his right to express his opinions and to participation, and they are very important because of their effect on both national and international communities.

* The importance of this right is stipulated in the Holy Quran: “Call unto the way of thy lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way” (Al-Nahl “The Bees”, 125).

* French Revolution Declaration of Human Rights (1789) stipulated that freedom of expression of opinion and thought is one of the precious human rights, as every one has the right to speak, write and express freely. Article 11 of the Declaration asserted that freedom of communicating opinions, and ideas is an important human right. Moreover, every citizen is free to speak, write and print provided that he/she shall be liable for misusing such freedom in the cases stipulated by law.

* Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulated that every one has the freedom of expression and opinion.

* The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights assures this right “Everyone has the right to take decision without interference and the right to express his opinion. This includes freedom to search for information or ideas of any kind, and transferring and receiving them regardless of any limitations, be it oral, written or printed in a technical form or any other means…”

- UNESCO assures this right in the declaration of the basic principles on the contribution of mass media in supporting rights, international co-understanding, consolidation of human rights, and fighting racialism and war mongering in the twentieth session of its conference on 22nd of November.

* European Convention on Human Rights (1950) stipulated in Article 10, paragraph 1) that every human person has the right to freedom of expression including freedom of adopting opinions and introducing information and ideas without interference from public authorities regardless of international limitations.

* In the American Agreement of Human Rights (1969), Article 13 assures freedom of thought and expression, and that this right includes the freedom to search for the different sorts of information and ideas; whether in receiving or transferring them to others either oral, written or printed regardless of limitations.

* Moreover, the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) stipulates in Article 9 the individual's right to obtain information.

* In the framework of the League of Arab States, Article 10 of the Arab Charter of Human Rights stipulates the right of the human person to the freedom of opinion and expression. This includes the human person's freedom to search, get, receive, transfer and disseminate information and ideas without being restricted to geographical borders.

Egypt and Enhancing Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Egypt joined the international and regional agreements and conventions, and freedom of opinion and expression has become of one the most important rights stipulated by the Egyptian Constitution of 1971 in 13 articles. Some of these Articles are in the chapter of “Freedom, Rights and Public Duties”; namely articles 47,48,49,50 and 57, and some others are in the chapter of the Authority of Press, namely Articles 206 and 211.

The principle of freedom of opinion and expression was mentioned in Articles 47 and 48 of the Constitution. Article 47 stipulates that freedom of opinion is guaranteed and each human person has the right to express his opinion and disseminate it either by saying, writing or illustrating or by any other means of expression within limitations of law, as well as the right to self-criticism and constructive criticism, in order to guarantee the safety of the children of the homeland.

Article 48 stipulates that freedom of press, printing, publishing and mass media is guaranteed, and censorship on newspapers is forbidden, and warning, stopping or canceling newspapers through administrative way are forbidden. It is allowed exceptionally during emergency or war time to impose a limited censorship on newspapers, publications and mass media in affairs related to public safety or national security purposes according to law.

There is a number of issued laws and charts that enhance freedom of opinion and expression and the subdivided rights in receiving, searching for, examining and transferring information through borders; such as, Law No Establishing the Supreme Council of Press (1975); Law no. 142 of 1980, which stipulates that the Egyptian press is an independent authority of the people that exercises its duties freely in the service of the society; Press Regulating Law issued by Law No. 96 of 1996; the first Press Code of Ethics of 1983 and the Second Press Code of Ethics issued by the Supreme Council of Press of the Syndicate of Journalists on March 26, 1998.

The Document of Alexandria, issued in March 2006 as an initiative for social, economic and political reform stressed the importance of the freedom of press and mass media away from governmental influences, unleashing operating visual institutions free of obstacles and encouraging public opinion polls.

Law No. 96 of 1996 on regulating press has determined the forms of the ownership of press institutions, rights of both journalist and newspaper, and the duties they should be committed to. The Law also sets several guarantees for practicing such profession in terms of banning imposing censorship over newspapers, except in times of emergency and war, confiscating of newspapers or canceling their licenses by administrative ways.

The Law also called for facilitating access to information and asserting the principle of the freedom of flow of information and the right of citizens to advertising, except for three cases: disturbing national security, defending the homeland and defending the higher interests of the homeland.

Moreover, Law No. 96 stipulates that journalists are independent. Such law protects them from being assaulted or humiliated because of their profession. The law also stressed that the journalist shall maintain his profession's secrets, and not be compelled to disclose his information resources. In addition, it provides guarantees for his financial and professional rights, as he may not be dismissed and the Syndicate of Journalists must be informed of the reasons so as to reconcile between the journalist and the newspaper. It is necessary to very early notify the Board of the Syndicate before starting questioning the journalist. This interrogation shall be attended by the head of the Syndicate or whoever may represent him from the Board.

By virtue of the law, documents, information and data acquired by the journalist may not be used as evidence of accusation against him in any criminal investigation, unless they per se represent a topic of investigation or a criminal aspect.

Furthermore, the Law provides a set of commitments the newspaper must observe to guarantee administration of justice, including abiding by the right of correction, banning accepting donations, financial aid or special privileges from foreign bodies, in addition to adhering to the ethics of media and separating between the written and advertising materials.

However, the said Law laid down the duties of the journalist; such as abiding by the Constitution and the law, maintaining the principles of the society and its fundamental basics, sticking to honor, honesty and ethics, and non-violating the rights of citizens.

Partisan Press
Partisan press plays a vital role in the political process. It is the key to introducing parties and their platforms to the masses. It also shows the stances of parties towards the different events and issues. Such press is one of the parties' tools for mobilizing advocates and supporting candidates in elections.

Syndicate of Journalists
The first Syndicate of Journalists was established under Law No. 10 of 1941 whereby it did not refer to the freedom of press and journalists as a goal of the syndicate. Moreover, this law banned the members from working in political or religious activities so as not to make it a place for partisan conflicts, which could avert it from its objective; i.e. organizing profession of press in Egypt.

Law no. 185 of 1955 stressed that the most important goals of the Syndicate was to maintain the rights of journalists, and promote their moral and financial affairs. Under that law, the Syndicate has been banned to get involved in political affairs.

Freedom and Liability
- The European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights (1950) stipulated in Article 10, Paragraph 2 that these freedoms envisage duties and responsibilities. So, these freedoms may be subjected to procedural restrictions, but only by virtue of the legal provisions.

- The American Convention on Human Rights (1969) after including the right to freedom of thought and expression in Article 13, stipulates that such right may not be subjected to a prior monitoring, but it can be a subject for imposing consequent liability specified clearly by law so as to ensure the respect of right of others and protect the national security, and public order, interest and ethics.

- The Arab Convention for Human Rights, within the framework of the League of Arab States, stipulates in Article 10 after declaring the right to freedom of opinion that no restrictions on practicing such right shall be imposed except under the virtue of a law and within a very limited level, in order to respect other people's rights and freedoms.

All these items were included in the Egyptian legislations on press and the provisions of liability in general. Article 48 of the Constitution stressed the freedom of opinion and expression excepted in the case of emergency and time of war where definite censorship on newspapers, publications and mass media shall be imposed concerning matters related to public safety or national security purposes according to the law.

Amendment of Article 76 Boosting Practice of Democracy
Egypt has preceeded other neighbouring countries in enacting the first liberal Constitution of 1923, which was issued to codify the principles of citizenship, plurality, public and civil rights and freedoms in all forms and levels and rule of law.

Following the July 23rd Revolution, the Constitution of 1956, which approved the system of referendum in selecting the President of the Republic in accordance with Article 21. Such article stipulates that the Nation's Assembly with absolute majority of the members nominates the President of the Republic and shall introduce the nomination to the citizens for referendum.

The system of referendum to select the President of the Republic had not been amended in Article 102 of the Constitution of 1964 or the Permanent Constitution of 1971, besides, the articles related to the election of the President of the Republic and his competences in the Constitution of 1971 had not been reviewed. However, Article 77 was amended to make the presidential 6- years term starts from the date of declaring the referendum, and the President of the Republic may be re-elected for other terms.

Within the framework of enhancing the democratic rights, President Mubarak issued a decree on February 26, 2005, calling upon the People's Assembly and Shura Council to amend Article 76 of the Constitution in order to provide the opportunity for running direct competitive multi-Candidate presidential elections through a direct ballot and not through referendum.

In the first presidential elections, candidates representing 10 Egyptian political parties ran for elections. Each candidate declared his thoughts and platform amidst open political atmosphere and unprecedented freedom of media.

The presidential and parliamentary elections were subject to many Egyptian and national mechanisms to ensure transparency, impartiality, integrity and soundness of procedures. Such procedures were represented in the full judicial supervision, allowing the National Council for Human Rights and the civil society organizations to follow up the electoral process from inside the polling stations, using the phosphoric ink to prevent repetition of votes and using the transparent glass boxes.

Cameras of Arab and international news agencies were permitted to enter into the polling stations to transmit the electoral process live.

Furthermore, several correspondents, cameramen, journalists and reporters of satellite channels and news agencies were following up through field visits to the polling stations in Cairo and the governorates. Large television screens were also installed at the World Press Center for the rest of them.

During the parliamentary elections, two programmes on channels “One” and “Two” in the Egyptian television were dedicated for the political parties to present for their electoral platforms, and three minutes were granted for each candidate on the regional channels.

About 20,000 minutes were dedicated for the candidates on the regional channels, in addition to the “Parliament” Channel, which transmits 12 hours per day. Add to this, SIS website launched a room for the People's Assembly elections.

Women Rights
The international community was keen on enhancing woman's rights and eliminating discrimination against her. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Woman was ratified by the UN General Assembly, and entered into force on September 3, 1981 with the endorsement of 117 countries till 1993. The Convention includes the principle of equality between men and women. This principle is enshrined in all international conventions: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights. The UN General Assembly had previously ratified the “Convention on the Political Rights of Women”, which entered into force on July, 7 1954.

Egypt has taken some measures so as to empower the woman and facilitate her role:

* It acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1981.

* It also acceded to the Convention on the Political Rights of Women in 1981.
* The Egyptian Constitution provides for women's rights such as the right to equality between men and women, the right to work, the right to assuming public posts … besides the rights related to social welfare and motherhood, childhood and family protection).
* The President of the Republic issued Decree No. 90 of 2000 under which the National Council for Woman (NCW) was established. The establishment of NCW coincided with the global efforts, supported by the United Nations to place women's affairs on the top of the world development agenda.

NCW adopts an ambitious strategy for development relying on the existing potentials of the society, aiming at building a balanced and cohesive society in which each member contributes to and benefits from such development.

Competencies of NCW:
1- To propose the society's general policy outlines and its constitutional institutions in the field of developing woman's affairs and empowering them to perform their socio-economic role by including her efforts in the comprehensive development programmes.
2- To lay out a national draft plan to develop the status of woman and solve the problems that may face them.

3- To give opinion on the draft laws and resolutions related to woman before referring them to the authorities concerned, and to express views regarding all the agreements tackling their affairs.
4- To represent women in international forums and organizations.
5- To hold conferences, symposia and seminars on women's affairs.
6- To organize training courses to raise awareness of women's role, rights and duties in the society.

Some of the NCW's achievements for enhancing women's rights in Egypt are:
* The issuance of laws on granting the Egyptian nationality to children born of an Egyptian woman who is married to a foreigner.
* The Family Court.
* The National Code ID Cards.
* The system of pensions for breadwinner women.

Woman and Decision-Making Posts
The one who follows the rate of women occupying state top administrative positions will find it declining gradually whenever we head for the top of the ladder, taking into consideration that some public posts are exclusive to men; such as governors.

Egypt has two women ministers:
Minister of Manpower and Immigration, and Minister of State for International Cooperation. Also, we find a woman judge is appointed for the first time as well as three others as counselors.

Moreover, a woman was first appointed as Chief of the Administrative Prosecution in 1998, and another woman was appointed as a chief of a rural town. Six women are members at the National Council for Human Rights. This reflects the recognition of Egypt of the effective role of woman in the field of human rights.

Women's Participation in Trade-Unions and NGOs
In 2001, Women's participation in syndicates (totaled 19) amounted to 18% (413,130 women against 1,856,151 men) and in trade-unions, which totaled 23 and grouped 4.12 million members, amounted to 15.4%.

In the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), women's participation reached 35 % in the general assemblies and 18 % in the boards.

In accordance with Law No. 47 of 1978, working women enjoy all privileges organizing work and employment including those special to women; such as, preventing women's work at night, except in certain cases, as well as their work in the non-healthy or non-moral conditions or in the hard jobs.

Rate of working-women participating in the labour market exceeded 20% of the total female number in the society, not to mention that there are about 10 million women working in irregular and unofficial jobs.

The Most Significant International Conventions on Women's Work Egypt Endorsed:
* The International Convention No. 49 of 1948 concerning Women Working at Night.
* The International Convention No. 100 of 1952 concerning Motherhood Protection.
* The International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1982).

Women in the Civil Law
The civil law equalizes between women and men in all civil rights. Women have their own property that husbands may not share in. They are free to dispose with their money without any restrictions, keep their family name for life and never lose it by marriage. They also have own independent financial status, even after marriage, unlike many other foreign systems.

Child Rights
The international conventions reflected the world interest in the child and his rights. This global attitude can be found in several trends after Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1934):

* The Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued on December 10, 1948, included a number of rights of the child.

* The United Nations issued the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1959. The Preamble mentioned that the child, owing to his physical and mental immaturity, needs special protection and care, including appropriate legal protection, whether before or after his birth. It called upon authorities and governments to recognize these rights and enact the legislative measures in order to implement them.
* The Convention on the Rights of the Child was issued on November 10, 1989 and entered into force on September 2, 1990.

Child Rights in Egypt
Egypt has participated in drafting and ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it was one of 20 countries that endorsed this Convention and made it a part of its national laws.

International Conventions on the Rights of the Child Egypt Acceded to:
Egypt acceded to the following international conventions and agreements:
· The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Political, and Civil Rights and International Convenant on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
· Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990).
· The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (Geneva, April 26, 2000).
· The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2002).
· The Arab Charter on Child Rights (1993).
· The African Charter on Child Rights and Welfare (Addis Ababa, 2001).
· The second Chapter of the Egyptian Constitution includes some rights of the child, such as: protection of motherhood and childhood, caring for children and youth and the principle of the right to fee – free education.
· President of the Republic issued Decree No. 54 of 1988 on setting up the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
· President Hosni Mubarak declared in 1989 the “First Decade for the Protection of the Egyptian Child”, whose goals are in line with the International Summit for Childhood, held in 1990.
· Child Law (1996) united all the legal rules concerning the protection and development of children in Egypt after they were scattered in different laws.
· In 2000, President of the Republic declared the “Document of the Second Decade for the Protection of the Egyptian Child”, which focuses on the marginalized and disadvantaged groups.
Both documents give due care to realize coordination of the national action for protecting childhood according to a national plan and an integrated vision that should be followed by all ministries and private institutions working in the field of childhood.
· Cooperation and coordination between the Egyptian efforts and the international bodies; e.g., UNICEF, UNESCO, nternational Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN Regional Office, in the field of the child health, social and educational care, and in providing health and psychological care for children with special needs.
· Egypt participated in many regional conferences in cooperation with the international institutions with the objective of protecting the child, such as:

1- The Conference on the Protection of Children against Narcotics (12 - 14 June, 2005) organized by the National Council for Childhood under the auspices of HE Mrs Suzanne Mubarak and in cooperation with the UN Regional Office and with the participation of the national institutions concerned with facing this phenomenon.
2- The Conference on Child Protection against Violence (June 2005) organized by the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood under the auspices of HE Mrs Suzanne Mubarak and in cooperation with the UNICEF, WHO and the HCHR.
3- The International Conference for Facing the Problem of Child Labour; where Egypt hosted the ILO ceremony held on the occasion of issuing the international report on child labour within the framework of Egypt's commitment to enforce Article No. 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child signed by Egypt on July 6, 1990. This Convention stipulates that child right should be protected against “economic abuse; or works that are most probably dangerous, hindering his/her education or harmful to his/her health, physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development”.
4- Problem of Homeless Children; this problem has been studied by governmental, non-governmental and international organizations, namely UN office concerned with narcotics and crime in Egypt and in the countries of the region, and the UNICEF comprehensive project for children protection.
5- Mrs Mubarak attaches major concern to children as shown in the establishment of children public libraries in all governorates, the Integrated Care Society (1977), the Egyptian Center for Child Literature and the first Child Museum in Egypt (1996), and taking the initiative of calling for promulgating a uniform code of the child.

The number of the civil institutions working in the field of mother and child care has gone up as follows:

1- The number of associations working in the field of child care reached 401 in 2002/03 against 168 in 2001/02, and
2- The number of associations working in the field of family care reached 334 in 2002/03 against 178 in 2001/02.
Egypt introduced its preliminary report to the Child Rights Committee in 1992 and its first periodical report in 1998, which was reviewed in January, 2000, and now it is drawing up for its second periodical report.

Right to Clean Environment
By the advent of the 1960s, the International Environment Movement activated as a reaction to the issue of pollution resulting from using poisonous pesticides and chemicals. In 1972, UN held an international conference on environment in Stockholm, where the report presented by Rome Club drew the world's attention to the seriousness of the irrational exploitation of the natural resources, which is the environment main component, and to the necessity of the international cooperation to find appropriate solutions and optimal methods for reacting towards this problem.

Since the convocation of the Earth Summit in 1992, a new concept for development has been adopted; namely the sustainable development. This concept is based on three connected main elements: economic development, social development and environment protection.
This was followed by issuing several binding agreements on the regional and international levels for environment protection. Moreover, the International Environment Law was enacted.

Environment Protection in Egypt
In Egypt, among the strategic issues, environment protection is leading; that it gains much concern in terms of their effect on different walks of life in the present and the future.

Applied Procedures Taken by Egypt to Protect and Develop Environment:
Egypt has taken the following procedures for protecting and developing the environment:
* Establishing the Environment Affairs Agency in 1982 to be the first specialized agency working in managing the environment affairs and developing its resources.
* Establishing the Environment Protection Fund in 1994 to encourage investments in the environmental fields.
* Establishing the Ministry of Environment in 1997, which monitors and combats sources of pollution.
* Establishing the Private Society Unit at the Ministry of Environment and Environment Affairs Agency in 2002. This Unit participates in drawing up joint action plans with the private societies, following up with the implementation of plans and programmes, promoting domestic and foreign opportunities of funding and supporting these societies, providing information and data from/to these societies and activating their role and the civil society's role in the plans and programmes of the Ministry /Agency.
* Issuing a number of laws and decisions concerning environment, including:
1- Nile Protection Law No. 48 of 1983 .
2- Law No. 4 of 1994, which is deemed the most important comprehensive law for environment in Egypt.
Within the framework of preserving and protecting environment against pollution, some executive steps have been taken in different fields, salient of which are:

Improving Quality of Air
This occurs through converting the government-owned vehicles into natural gas-powered vehicles, and granting them licences conditional on examining their exhaust.

Re-cycling Wastes

This is undertaken starting from the healthy heaping-up process until the safe disposal.

Preserving the River Nile and Natural Resources
This is done through improving the quality of water in many different regions of the country, and establishing 5 river berths for heaping up wastes floating on the water surface.

Controlling Industrial Contamination

This is achieved through
1- Signing 5 environment-friendly industrial cities: Al-Sadat, Badr, 6th of October, Al-Obour and 10th of Ramadan.
2- Establishing database for transferring the industrial zones and activities of pollution outside dwelling areas for limiting the pollution sources.

Preserving Natural Resources
Law No. 102 of 1983 was issued for natural reserves, where 24 natural reserves have been declared from 1983 to 2003.
The natural reserves occupy 10% of Egypt's total area, and this percentage is targeted to increase to reach 18% of Egypt's total area in 2017.

Preserving Coastal Environment:

A center for combating maritime pollution had been established in Sharm-el-Sheikh and another one is going to be set up in Neweiba'. In addition, a comprehensive survey for Egyptian coasts was conducted to pinpoint the most important areas exposed to the hazards pollution.

Right to Education

Articles on education in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; African Convention for Human Rights; and Arab Convention for Human Rights unanimously agree on the principle of the right to fee-free education in the different stages and on making it obligatory in its basic stages.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that every person has the right to education, and education at least in its primary and basic stages shall be free, and the primary stage of education shall be obligatory, and technical and vocational education shall be generalized, and the admission to higher education shall be on completely equal footing for all and according to efficiency.

The introduction of Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, which came in line with the acknowledgment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the right to free education and equality among all, recognizes the individual's right to culture in order to develop the human personality, and because it increases respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Moreover, it enhances understanding, tolerance and amity among peoples, and supports the UN activities in maintaining peace.

The Egyptian Constitution includes this concept in Articles 18 and 20: “education is a right secured by the State and it is obligatory in the primary stage and the State shall work to extend this obligation to other stages”.

Egypt has dedicated a decade for adopting human rights through its educational system. This national project has coincided with working on spreading the principles of human rights and democracy and involving them in the educational process. This objective has crystallized in the document of “ Mubarak and Education”, which determines Egypt's educational strategies and refers to the principles of democracy, social peace and human rights, as they are basically pivotal for such strategy.

With the world technological progress in the educational aids, schools of Egypt have been equipped with multimedia and advanced laboratories. Moreover, they have been hooked up with the Internet, and technological facilities of the Egyptian satellite (Nilesat 101) are being used in broadcasting educational and scientific programmes.

Egypt has witnessed a significant breakthrough with the increase of the number of schools, which hit 36,332, in addition to paying great attention to grooming teachers and elevating their training standards by using the modern technologies that cope with the present communication revolution.

Mubarak City for Education was established in the 6th of October City. It aims at investing modern scientific technologies in improving and teaching science courses through simplifying, watching and directly interacting with the scientific sets. It also aims at sponsoring the scientific talents through using up-to-date technologies.

Believing in the right of every individual citizen to education, Egypt is interested in eliminating illiteracy as it has a negative impact on the socio-economic development. Meanwhile, eliminating illiteracy is important to face the challenges of the third millennium. This interest was crystallized through the national conference of 2000, in which Egypt emphasized its clear-cut commitment to eliminating illiteracy and dedicated the two decades (1990-1999) and (2000-2010) for eliminating illiteracy.

The “General Authority for Illiteracy Elimination and Adult Education” was established in 1991 aiming at planning and coordinating among the parties concerned with illiteracy to fulfil the common goal.

The national project for eliminating illiteracy has accomplished tangible success in the recent years. Illiteracy rates decreased in 2004 to 28.29%, against 39.4% in 1986.