The National Association for Defense of Rights and Freedoms (NADRF) ends its tour in Luxor Governorate

“Empowering women in Upper Egypt has become an urgent necessity”
As part of the National Society for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms’ endeavor to communicate always in its areas of work and in line with its objectives in raising women’s capabilities, the National Society for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms held a number of meetings within the governorate over a period of three days to start initiatives to empower women economically and socially and carried out many activities.
The beginning was a workshop to teach girls to make safe soap in cooperation with the Happy Africa Initiative and the Women’s Club in the youth center of the village of Al-Dair affiliated to the city of Esna in Luxor Governorate. The idea began through our previous activities within the different work areas. Economic, which will of course affect their social and political conditions. The attendees represented different ages from 18 to 35 years old; all of them are members of the Women’s Club in the Youth Center of Al-Dair Village, east of Esna Center in Luxor Governorate. The workshop lasted for three full hours (theoretical / practical). The trainees manufactured the soap bars by themselves which was very easy to make, and also environmentally friendly, product that can be manufactured and marketed well.
NADRF completed its tour by holding meetings with its coordinators in the governorate and some civil society leaders and natural leaders in Luxor Governorate to discuss NADRF’s work and ideas for developing work in Luxor governorates and community needs during the coming period, and increasing their awareness on the legal level. We also confirmed the need of the Luxor community for economic and social empowerment in a large way. Coordination was made to open an office for the NADRF in Luxor Governorate in order to help organizations and women with activities that they benefit from on the economic and social level.
The tour ended with holding a panel discussion through the Women’s Program of NADRF under the title “The Social Legislation for Egyptian Women – Discussing the “New Personal Status Bill” in cooperation with the Al Ber Charity Association in Al-Awamiya Island, Luxor Governorate. 30 women attended the association and the beneficiaries of its activities in the area of Al-Awamiya and the discussion was started under the management of Ms. Habiba Mazen – responsible for women’s programs in NADRF, Ms. Safaa Zaghloul and Ms. Heba Magdy, NADRF’s coordinators in Luxor Governorate, and with the generous hosting of Mr. Hajjaj, director of the Al-Bir Charity Association. The discussion took place in several stages, namely the stage of discussion about the poor economic conditions of women – discussing their needs for texts in the new personal status law – the stage of opening the door for legal consultations to attend.
The session revealed the obstacles that women suffer from at the economic and social level, and that they are highly willing to receive training and rehabilitation in order to increase income, which greatly affects the social status of every household, especially since Luxor is a governorate that lives on tourism, which has been hugely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic “Covid 19”. The social situation witnessed a great crisis and caused a rise in family dispute cases, such as divorce and other problems, which emphasized the need for women to raise awareness of their rights and duties.