With the support programme for Democratization, Human Rights and Civil Society, the idea of mobile units crisscrossing the Egyptian governorates to collect complaints of citizens was born. Report.
Najet Belhatem - Cairo, Eurojar
The van is parked in the modest quarters of Hay El Sadess (quarter number six) of the new 6th October City, in the south west Egyptian suburb. While it is still hot in this month of November in Egypt, a small group of citizens gather timidly, holding in hands scraps of paper. A few minutes later, others get busy filling in forms. “I am filing a complaint asking them to find a solution to private lessons. I am a student in secondary school, and my parents cannot afford the fees. It is true that education is free of cost; however, we cannot succeed in school without those private lessons. Either they enhance the level of education, or find a solution to this problem…,” says a young gentleman who came to the place with his friend.
The logos of the National Council for Human Rights and the European Union are displayed on the van which fits out small desks to welcome the complaints of citizens while touring the unprivileged quarters of Egyptian governorates. This initiative comes in the framework of the European Union programme “Support to Democratization, Human Rights and Civil Society”. This programme is funded by 5 million Euros by the European Commission. One of the beneficiaries is the bureau of the mediator of the National Council for Human Rights.
The originality in this project resides in the fact that public service is reaching the citizens in their quarters and back streets. People do not have to suffer anymore from the mazes of regulations and bureaucracy. This comes to the benefit of people who do not know their rights or do not know where to go in case of violation of their rights.
The crowd is gaining in size day after day. “Yesterday, in the mosque, they announced the presence of this van; this is why I came today. I am coming to complain about the housing crisis in Egypt. I rent an apartment for 400 Egyptian pounds a month and my salary is 600 pounds only. I cannot afford to live a decent life with my wife and three kids with this salary”.
A matter of confidence
Going through the mosque to popularize the objective of the van makes things easier on people and helps in creating confidence very fast. The main objective of the Council’s personnel touring in the van is to help citizens file in their complaints and guide them to find the appropriate organism for their needs.
“At the beginning, people were reluctant. They feared to come close to the van or to us. We had to reassure them and build confidence in their hearts. Once this confidence built, crowds of people gather around us. One time, in Kafr El Sheick, we stayed for two days, waiting for somebody to approach us”, says Lamia Maher, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, who toured several governorates, namely, Béheira, Fayoum and Qalioubya. She was ceased by an old woman with a black Gellabiya who came timidly asking for help to treat her husband who suffers from sight problems. A day-laborer, with no financial resources whatsoever, her husband cannot afford the expenses of his operation: “We will help you get an allowance from the Ministry of Social Affairs”.
Others also came the same day seeking support for their medical expenses. Another man was asking for support from Al Taamir bank to get a house loan, without having to go through cumulative totals and interest rates in other banks. “I am looking for a job. I am in charge of 5 persons”, says a man in his thirties. Others also came for job problems, or to complain about lack of water in their districts or sewerage problems. “Overflowing sewerage is a problem in our quarters. We filed several complaints, yet nobody answered us; I live on the ground floor and the situation is unbearable. I tried to find a solution by opening an exit from the balcony, but the municipal authorities did not like the idea, and came to take actions. What can we do?” asks a man in his sixties.
Complaints are piling up on the desks of the little van. “The complaints are collected and classified by the council and then sent to the concerned organisms: ministries, governorates, etc.,” explains Maher. Plaintiffs have to follow up the status of their complaints by phone with the council. “At the beginning of our work in the council, we did not hear from the organisms and institutions concerned by the complaints. However, after the publication of the first council’s report that pointed out the indifference of some institutions, things started to move positively in the right direction”, she concludes. Today, the van embodies hope that crowds need to believe in. Had some of the complaints been resolved, then the presence of the van would have achieved its goal.
Refer to the project fact sheet: Support in the Field of Democratization, Human Rights and Civil Society (Egypt)
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