Freedom House will send a high-level delegation to Cairo next week for talks on how to best support the Egyptian government and civil society in their efforts to strengthen human and civil rights.
Thomas A. Dine, vice chair of the Freedom House Board of Trustees, will lead the delegation which arrives on Monday. Other members include Dr. Daniel Calingaert, deputy director of programs, and Sameer Jarrah, director of Freedom House's New Generation project. The delegation plans to meet with officials from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the National Council for Human Rights and Egyptian human rights organizations.
The delegation's visit comes as government and civil society leaders examine which reforms the country should adopt prior to elections in 2010 and 2011. Freedom House has organized a series of dialogues this year on these issues, the most recent of which attracted more than 100 prominent Egyptians including members of the Shura Council, parliamentarians, academics, political activists and civil society leaders. This dialogue in June was co-sponsored by Freedom House and the National Council for Human Rights, and a previous forum was held with the Democracy and Human Rights Studies Center at Cairo University and the One World Foundation for Development and Civil Society Care.
Freedom House is also partnering with civil society organizations in Egypt to educate citizens about voter registration, conduct research on women's rights and develop a documentary on internet freedom.
Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Egypt since 1972.
