Egyptian women charter

Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, the head of the National Council for Women, said last month the council would issue the Egyptian women charter soon.

The charter would empower women to aggressively participate in social development for a better life and contribute to efforts aimed at improving social conditions, she said. Addressing the closing session of the National Conference for Women, held here under her Chairmanship, Mrs. Mubarak said that all recommendations made at the conference would be taken to heart.

We have come today to lay the first brick in a new long-awaited foundation for a women council that comprises every and each woman on the land of Egypt, she said.

The conference discussed women, youth, social development, the economic dimension, the role of women in protecting environment, cultural progress, development, and public life. The conference recommended working on suitable measures that guarantee women's political participation and setting up branches for the council in all governorates.

The conference urged women to benefit from the information revolution and get access to soft loans to raise the family standards of living and enhance women's participation in shouldering social burdens.

The Council's Secretary General Mervat Telawi said that the conference made 14 recommendations on all topics to empower women in the public, social and economic life.