UNODC Study Visit to the Netherlands

This project forms part of a series in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The first project started in 2022, whereby UNODC aims to train 180 Egyptian judges of First Instance to enhance their technical capacities to improve access to justice for women (G2G22EG01). Whereas that project, co-implemented by UNODC and CILC, focuses on Gender Based Violence (GBV), this project widens the scope to include people with disabilities.

This project is pertinent since both women and people with disabilities face obstacles in accessing the judicial system in Egypt. The level of reporting GBV offences is historically low since gender-based discrimination is experienced at various stages of the judicial process. Furthermore, the official statistical agency of Egypt, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that around 10.67% of the people of 5 years and older in Egypt have some form of a disability. 2.61% of this group suffer from a severe disability.

Currently, the judicial system is equally volatile and inaccessible for this group due to various forms of discrimination. Intervention is increasingly timely considering the standpoint of Amal Ammar (Assistant Minister of Justice for the Egyptian Human Rights, Woman and Child Sector and Access to Justice Counsellor), who named access to justice without discrimination or bias as one of the “most important reform priorities and pillars of effective justice” in Egypt. This project invited 7 Egyptian judges to the Netherlands where Dutch regulatory mechanisms, procedures and experiences around access to justice will be showcased. It will serve as an opportunity for the Netherlands and Egypt to exchange best practices and shortcomings in their respective jurisdictions.

Following the visit, the judges will have enhanced know-how on efficient inter-agency coordination to support women and people with disabilities in their access to justice. This proposal for a Shiraka G2G cooperation is in line with the Netherlands Embassy’s strategic objectives on ensuring female participation in the judicial system in Egypt and on building capacity on addressing women’s rights in the judicial system; as well as those of disabled persons

The overarching objective is to enhance the technical capacities of Egyptian judges, raise their awareness on best practices around access to justice for women and disabled persons, and discuss the difficulties encountered and institutional needs in this topic.