Daring to Care Reflections on Egypt Before the Revolution and the Way Forward
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THE ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN EGYPT Daring To Care Reflections on Egypt Before The Revolution And The Way Forward Experts’ Views On The Problems That Have Been Facing Egypt Throughout The First Decade Of The Millennium And Ways To Solve Them Daring to Care i Daring to Care ii Daring to Care Daring to Care Reflections on Egypt before the revolution and the way forward A Publication of the Association of International Civil Servants (AFICS-Egypt) Registered under No.1723/2003 with Ministry of Solidarity iii Daring to Care First published in Egypt in 2011 A Publication of the Association of International Civil Servants (AFICS-Egypt) ILO Cairo Head Office 29, Taha Hussein st. Zamalek, Cairo Registered under No.1723/2003 with Ministry of Solidarity Copyright © AFICS-Egypt All rights reserved Printed in Egypt All articles and essays appearing in this book as appeared in Beyond - Ma’baed publication in English or Arabic between 2002 and 2010. Beyond is the English edition, appeared quarterly as a supplement in Al Ahram Weekly newspaper. Ma’baed magazine is its Arabic edition and was published independently by AFICS-Egypt. BEYOND-MA’BAED is a property of AFICS EGYPT No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of AFICS Egypt. Printed in Egypt by Moody Graphic International Ltd. 7, Delta st. ,Dokki 12311, Giza, Egypt - www.moodygraphic.com iv Daring to Care To those who have continuously worked at stirring the conscience of Egypt, reminding her of her higher calling and better self. v Daring to Care The Association of International Civil Servants (AFICS-Egypt) for Development This book was entirely compiled, edited, designed and produced by AFICS - Egypt members on voluntary basis. Editor Seheir Kansouh-Habib Reviewers Samia Farid-Shihata Amina Abdel Aziz Hoda Sharkawi Layout Mahmoud Nour Production Hoda Sharkawi CoverDesign: Mahmoud Nour vi Daring to Care 99 thinkers, scholars, practitioners including 20 youth address issues that have been facing Egypt through the first decade of the Millennium, were to a large extent among the causes that led to the 25th January Revolution, and ways to solve them. The content of this book does not reflect necessarily the views of AFICS- Egypt, the Al Ahram Weekly, the UN system, and or any of the sponsors. The papers in this volume were contributed by the authors in their personal capacities and they are solely responsible for their views. All work is voluntary, except for printing, publishing, and dissemination. vii Daring to Care viii Daring to Care Table of Contents Foreword xix Boutros Boutros-Ghali Introduction xxi Mervat Tallawy Executive Summary xxv Seheir Kansouh-Habib Ode to the 25th January Revolution xxxvi What is to give light. (a poem) Yahia Lababidi Chapter I: Change is Overdue Shihata’s last testament: Excerpts 3 Ibrahim Shihata, translated by Samia Farid Shihata The rule of law 12 Mohamed Nour Farahat The trouble with Sanhuri 16 Amr Shalakany A wake up call 20 Hazem El-Beblawi Struggle for independence 23 Hesham El-Bastawissy On judicial independence & what it means to be a Judge 26 Justice Joseph Nadeau ix Daring to Care Islamising democracy 32 Moataz Abdel Fattah The power of the street 35 Mona Makram Ebeid Changing the business climate 37 Samia Farid Shihata Clipping corruption’s wings 41 Antonio Vigilante Towards a new social contract 46 Samaa Kassaby Accountability, the Roman way 49 Herve Pourcines A tale of two values 53 Hoda Badran Dealing with addiction 57 Soheir Loutfy Chapter II: Knowledge at Risk Time for change 63 Hamed Ammar Egyptian educational decline: is there a way out? 69 Mohamed Aboulghar Resistance as prerequisite for reform 74 Hoda Elsadda Answers are not convincing 77 Samia Farid Shihata Civic education and democracy 80 Mona Makram Ebeid Creating a system of excellence 82 Ismail Serageldin Science, technology and organised knowledge 86 Saad Z. Nagi 1,000 wells for Darfur 90 Farouk El Baz x Daring to Care Do educators need education? 94 Essam Mitwally Educating working children 97 Laila Iskandar Giving it another try 102 UNESCO Staff Pre-University educational reform in Egypt 104 Malak Zaalouk Supporting Egypt’s school feeding 107 WFP Staff Q & A: The father of IT in Egypt speaks out 110 Hisham El Sherif interview with Samia Farid Shihata. Chapter III: The land Question Desert Development Corridor: Into The Sahara 117 Farouk El-Baz Learning from past mistakes 127 Rushdi Said Commentary on Rushdi Said’s views 130 Farouk El Baz New horizons 132 Abou Zeid Rageh The eye of the sun 137 Essam Mitwally The Bassaysa model 140 Samia Farid Shihata No strength in numbers 143 Maged Osman Runaway sales 147 Salah Hegab Using what we have 149 Hamdy El-Swalhy Egypt and food security 155 Paul Weber & John Harris xi Daring to Care Modern farmers needed 163 Samir Raafat The limits of trade policy 166 Ahmed Ghoneim Q & A: Economist’s views of the food crisis (I) 170 Gouda Abdel Khalek, interview with Seheir Kansouh-Habib Q & A: Economist’s views of the food crisis (II) 174 Karima Korayem, interview with Seheir Kansouh-Habib Chapter IV: Environmental concerns 179 Climate change and Egypt 181 Mohamed El Raey Agriculture at risk 186 Samia Al-Marsafawy Wetland for wastewater 190 Mohamed Bayoumi New challenges for coastal research 193 Ibrahim El Shinawy Egypt’s hydraulic future 195 John Harris Overcoming limits to growth 200 Mostafa K Tolba Saving Shoubra El-Kheima 207 Wegdan Lotfy Conversion of domestic solid waste into ethanol 210 Essam Mitwally An integrated system of solid waste management 216 Yousryia Loza & Ayman Moharem Preserving heritage value 220 Salah Zaki Tree-lovers needed 222 Samia Zeitoun Saving the Trees 225 Sohaylah El-Sawy xii Daring to Care Chapter V: Human Rights Rights of Islam 229 Zeinab Radwan, translation from Arabic by Fathi Abu Rafia Human rights at a crossroads 233 Hedayat Abdel Nabi From deadlock to democracy 236 Mona Makram Ebeid Defeating terrorism through human rights 240 Fouad Abdel Moneim Riad Freedom needs a free press 244 Mohamed Nour Farahat Early beginnings 248 Hoda Badran Asserting our right to silence 252 Yahia Lababidi Q & A: Bringing human rights home 256 Boutros Boutros-Ghali, interview with Seheir Kansouh-Habib Commentary: Three years later 262 Bahey Eldin Hassan Chapter VI: Women is Power Women in focus: (i) A look at the woman’s machinary 271 (ii) Empowerment is a battle for both men and women 276 (iii) Violence against women 280 Fatma Khafagy Rights of representation 286 Mona Makram Ebeid Visitation rights for children 288 Thanaa El-Shamy Women in business 290 Carmen Niethammer xiii Daring to Care Refusing silence: taking to the street 293 Ghada Shahbender Women and Voluntarism Rays of hope 296 Hana Aboulghar Peace and plenty 299 Nevine El-Ibrachy Women and Entrepreneurship The Women of Diwan 301 Profiles Hind Wassef, Nadia Wassef, Nihal Schawky The aura of flora 303 Profile Malak Taher Women and Art The spirit of change 305 Alia El-Bialy Rhapsody in paint 308 Profile Nazli Madkour Q & A: with a woman justice 310 Tahany El-Gebaly, interview with Samia Farid Shihata Chapter VII: Cairo, Living History Cairo. A poem. 317 Yahia Lababidi A tale of three cities 318 Abou Zeid Rageh Under siege 324 Ali Dessouki Towards the inclusive city 327 Laila Iskandar Towards urban harmony 330 Mahmoud Yousry Old and new matrices 334 Aly Raafat Downtown today, yesterday and tomorrow 337 Sami Serageldin xiv Daring to Care Do we have to wait for overseas protests 340 Samir Raafat A desert Taj Mahal 343 Samir Raafat Exiled in suburbia 347 Hazem Zohny Green lung for Embaba: Using the opportunity wisely 351 Mamdouh Hamza Before it’s too late 357 Samia Farid Shihata, Commentary. The orphan street. A poem. 360 Hervé Pourcines Living on the edge 361 Hanna Abulghar The Street is my only home! 365 Omneya Ragab The right to know 368 Samia Zeitoun Chased off the street 372 Nawal Hassan Missing public space 375 John Harris Cairo: a story of waste mis-management 381 Laila Iskandar Q & A: Cairo’s solutions lie outside 388 Abdallah Abdel Aziz Attia, interview with Samia Farid Shihata. Chapter VIII: Youth have their Say Acting today to secure a democratic future 393 Dina Shehata Egyptian expatriates help Egypt’s emerging industries 396 Noha Hatata Bewildered youth 399 Hazem Zohny Drug addiction in teenagers 401 Habiba Hegab xv Daring to Care Equity matters 403 Ayman Ismail A divided way of life 408 Hadil Ghoneim The artistry of youth 411 Ossama Alserwy Untapped treasure 414 Ehaab Abdou Those precious few we touch 419 Dalia Ihab Younes Lost in the slums 421 Sarah Sabry Subsidising or taxing 422 Samer Atallah A matter of choice 424 Laila Omar Hassan Before a new social contract 429 Ayman Ismail Playing it forward 433 Seif Abou Zeid The absent woman 437 Marwa Sharafeldin The end of the line 440 Mary Mourad Performance-based governance 442 Youssef Bishai For the love of Egypt 446 Ahmed El-Dorghamy A breath of fresh air 450 Ibrahim Youssef Free-share is no free lunch 453 Youssef Bishai The streets are ours 456 Alia Mossallam Make way for change 461 Ahmed El-Dorghamy xvi Daring to Care Staying in Egypt 465 Sara Abou Bakr Chapter IX: Beyond Borders A. The Arab Region 469 Building a knowledge society and the ultimate source 471 Nader Fergany Out of the black hole 479 Noeman Al-Sayyad Let the new generation rise 483 Farouk El Baz Faltering ecology in the Arab region 487 Mohamed El Ashry The Gibraltar barrage 492 Mohamed El-Kassas Road not travelled 496 Ahmed Galal Forward, but slowly 502 Hoda Badran Q & A: Seeing the whole on the challenges facing the region 506 Mervat Tallawy, interview with Hedayat Abdel Nabi B.