Violence against women is a major obstacle to the realization of any plans for sustainable development, peace, justice and equality, as it has serious short-and long-term economic and social consequences and repercussions. Here we point out that the practices of violence against women are contrary to the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, which seeks to achieve gender equality and enhance the status of women.

The strategic forum for public policies and Development Studies ” Draya” issues this report, which deals in detail with the reality of violence against women, its causes and consequences, in addition to the efforts of the Egyptian state to address it, and presented the most important recommendations aimed at eliminating this type of violence, through several axes, namely:

First: The concept of violence against women and its types.

Second: The causes of violence against women.

Third: The repercussions of violence against women.

Fourth: Indicators of violence against women globally and locally.

Fifth: The Egyptian state’s efforts to address violence against women.

Sixth: Proposals to reduce the violence against women.

First: The concept of violence against women and its types

The United Nations General Assembly has defined “violence against women” as “any assault against women based on gender, which causes physical, sexual or psychological harm or pain to women, and also includes the threat of such assault, pressure or arbitrary deprivation of freedom, whether it occurs in The framework of public or private life.

The United Nations has defined the types of violence against women as follows:

1- Domestic violence: It means any behavior adopted by a former partner that causes harm or suffering to the woman, whether physical, sexual, or psychological, including physical assault, sexual coercion, and psychological abuse.
2-sexual violence: it means any sexual act committed against the will of another person under duress (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber harassment)

3-human trafficking: it is the possession and exploitation of people by means such as force, fraud, coercion or deception. Millions of women and girls around the world suffer from it, many of whom are subjected to sexual exploitation.

4-female genital mutilation: it includes procedures that deliberately alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, usually driven by beliefs about sex and its relationship with appropriate sexual expression.

5- Child marriage: It refers to any marriage in which one or both spouses are under 18 years of age.

Second: causes of violence against women

Many factors have contributed to the existence of a favorable environment for the commission of violence against women, the most prominent of which are the following according to the World Health Organization and specialized scientific studies in this regard:

1-low levels of education and the resulting misconception of values and moral principles that prohibit violence, and influenced by negative stereotypes about violence.

2-previous exposure to violence, witnessing family violence and the spread of abusive customary practices in society and beliefs related to family honor and chastity, which creates a fertile environment for the consolidation of a culture of violence against women.

3-male control over social and economic decision-making and their monopoly on it in the presence of societal standards that give men privileges or raise their status and degrade the status of women.

4-the low paid job opportunities available to women, the lack of opportunities for women’s participation in society and their feeling of marginalization and not taking into account their needs.

Third: the repercussions of violence against women

Violence against women has wide-ranging effects at various levels, and the World Health Organization has classified these effects according to the following:

1- Fatal consequences such as murder or suicide

2- Possible injuries: 42% of women who are exposed to intimate partner violence report being injured as a result of this violence.

3- Unwanted pregnancies, induced abortions, women’s health problems, and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.

4-depression: women who have been subjected to violence may develop depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety-causing disorders, suffering from sleep difficulties, eating disorders, and suicide attempts.

5-headaches, pain syndromes (back pain, abdominal pain, chronic pelvic pain), stomach and intestinal disorders, limited mobility and ill health in general.

6-sexual violence, especially during childhood, may lead to an increased likelihood of smoking, substance abuse, alcohol, and risky sexual behaviors, and is also associated with committing violence (for males) and becoming a victim of violence (for females)

Fourth: Indicators of violence against women globally and locally

-A third of women in the world (almost 27%) have experienced violence at least once in their life

-One in 3 women experiences sexual or physical violence at least once in her life.

-5 women or girls are killed every hour by a member of their family.

-The percentage of murders of women committed by their partners reaches 38% of the total of these crimes.

– 6%of the world’s women report having been sexually assaulted by someone other than their partner.

-86%of women and girls live in countries where there are no legal protection systems from gender-based violence.

-45% of women reported that they had experienced some form of violence against women.

-7out of 10 women expressed the belief that verbal or physical abuse by an intimate partner tomorrow is more common.

-6 out of 10 women feel the aggravation of sexual harassment in public places.

B. local indicators:

Female circumcision

The rates of circumcision among previously married women reached 85.6% compared to 92% in 2014. The rate of circumcision is higher in the countryside than in urban areas, and in the governorates of Upper Egypt than in the governorates of Lower Egypt, where it reached 91.5% in Upper Egypt compared to 84.1% in Lower Egypt. And 62% in the border governorates.

The rate of circumcision is also linked to the educational status of women, as the results indicate a decrease in the rates of circumcision with an increase in the educational level, reaching 82.4% among women who have completed secondary school or higher, compared to 85.9% among women who have completed primary school, and 89.8% among women who have not. Primary stage, and 94.9% who have never gone to school.

– Violence by the husband:

The results indicate that about 31%, or one-third of ever-married women between the ages of 15-49, have been exposed to some form of violence by their husbands (any form of violence, whether psychological, physical, or sexual).

Nearly a quarter of women, or 25.5% of previously married women between the ages of 15-49, have been exposed to physical violence, 22.3% to psychological violence, and 5.6% to sexual violence.

– Violence against women with disabilities:

The National Council for Women, in partnership with the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics and with the support of United Nations organizations, conducted a survey on violence against women with disabilities for the year 2020 – the survey sample included 5,616 women with disabilities – the most prominent results of which were as follows:

– 61% of women with disabilities were exposed to some form of violence by their husbands at any stage of their lives.

-54% of previously married women were exposed to psychological violence by their husbands, 43% were exposed to physical violence by their husbands, and 34% were exposed to disability-related violence by their husbands.

– 20% of women with disabilities have been exposed to sexual violence, and 14% have been exposed to both psychological, physical, sexual, and disability-related violence by their husbands at any period of their lives.

The family and the surrounding environment are the main reasons why girls with disabilities are exposed to violence

– The study showed that 35% of the respondents have been exposed to psychological violence by family members or the surrounding environment since the age of 15, 28% have been exposed to disability-related violence, 25% have been exposed to physical violence, about 10% have been exposed to any form of sexual violence, and 8% have been sexually harassed .

Women with disabilities who are young and living in urban governorates are more vulnerable to violence

– Women with disabilities who are young and living in urban governorates are more exposed to violence in public places than older women or residents of the sea or tribal face.

– 66% of women who have experienced violence in public places have not taken any action to counteract this violence .

– Women with visual impairments are more likely to be subjected to violence in public places than women with other disabilities

– 7% of women with multiple disabilities had violence against them as the reason for the occurrence of these disabilities.

Fifth: the Egyptian state’s efforts to eliminate violence against women

-The 2014 Constitution obligated the Egyptian state, in both Articles 11 and 53, to ensure the achievement of equality between men and women, protect them from all forms of violence, and provide care and protection for childhood and motherhood.

The national strategy for Human Rights (2021-2026) included items stipulating ” effective implementation of policies to combat violence against women through raising awareness ” and benefiting from programs to combat all forms of violence against women and developing policies that would create a supportive environment for Battered Women in reporting perpetrators of violence to benefit from protection services.

In 2022, the National Council for women launched the results of the research ” violence against women with disabilities”, which was prepared in cooperation with the central agency for public mobilization and statistics and the Ministry of Social Solidarity, which is the first study of its kind in the Arab region.

The National Council for women, in partnership with the central agency for public mobilization and statistics and with the support of UNICEF, carried out the first national survey on the ” economic cost of gender-based violence in Egypt ” in 2015.

The National Council for women launched the national strategy for the elimination of violence against women 2015-2020, and launched a special unit to follow up and implement this strategy, in coordination and cooperation with various relevant state agencies.

The council launched the” national strategy for the empowerment of Egyptian women 2030 ” within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, and in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030, where the strategy recognizes the importance of addressing violence against women and protecting women from all forms of violence.

The Ministry of Justice, in accordance with the cooperation protocol with the National Council for Women, established committees to protect women from violence, whose mission is to review legislation related to violence as well as submit the necessary legislative proposals.

The state established primary care units, equipped working women’s service centers, and social protection projects for abused women.

Sixth: proposals to reduce the phenomenon of violence against women

Despite the great and unprecedented efforts made by the Egyptian state to eliminate all practices of violence against women, more efforts can be made, which can be summarized as follows :

1-inclusion of violence against women practices in demographic and health surveys that monitor and develop accurate information about demographic characteristics.

2-establishment of a database on the scale and characteristics of violence against women and its nature.

3-documenting the practices of violence against women and estimating its rates and consequences in order to develop plans to prevent these practices.

4-expansion of research and studies on the causes and consequences of violence against women with the identification of effective measures necessary to prevent these practices in the future

5-expanding the involvement of civil society institutions, youth leaders and the private sector in studying the causes of violence against girls and women, while providing the necessary funding for this

6-providing survivors of violence with psychological and social support and economic and social empowerment programs .

7-develop a national program to work with couples and provide them with programs aimed at improving communication skills and establishing healthy marital relationships.

8-developing a national cultural program aimed at increasing community awareness and changing all standards that promote gender inequality.

9-providing curricula with programs that promote the values of gender equality.

10-encouraging girls and women to immediately report any attempts to commit violence against them and to inform the concerned authorities immediately after the occurrence of these crimes.

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It is not possible to erase history, deny the existence of the Palestinian people, and hide their identity, whose roots extend back centuries. The occupation has not been able in any country throughout history to eliminate its indigenous peoples, regardless of the efforts at ethnic cleansing or the attempt to change the demographics of the population.

In this context, the Strategic Forum for Public Policy and Development Studies “Draya” issues a report that provides an overview of the history of the Palestinian state, and the area of land that remained for the Palestinians of their land after the Nakba of 1948, in addition to the demographics of its people.

First: a historical overview of the Palestinian state

Many Arab tribes and peoples migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to Palestine, the most famous of which are: the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Arameans. These peoples established important civilizations, especially the Canaanites who established large cities in Palestine and named them by their names, and they remain a legacy until now.

Palestine was invaded by various ethnic groups that managed to control it for a while, but they were eventually expelled and the land returned to its original inhabitants. The most famous of these groups are the Hyksos (1750-1500 BC.M.), and the Persians (520 BC.M.), and the Greeks led by Alexander (332 BC.Ad), and the Romans in the first century AD. In 636 AD, the Muslim armies conquered Palestine and became part of the Islamic State, and Palestine witnessed prosperity in the Arab era despite the Crusades it went through. It also remained active in shaping the events of Arab history even during the four-century Ottoman rule.

In the late nineteenth century, the process of Jewish settlement in Palestine began during the period of Ottoman rule, and the Zionist movement used all means to encourage Jewish immigration to Israel. Some Jews entered as merchants and businessmen, while others took advantage of being allowed to visit the holy places to infiltrate Palestine and stay there. Jewish settlement in Palestine began in 1859.

In the midst of World War I, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed, which stipulated that Palestine would become under the British Mandate. In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour issued a statement stipulating the establishment of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine, which is known as the Balfour Declaration. Declaration, Britain worked to provide facilities and support for waves of Jewish immigration to Palestine and to increase the number of Jewish settlements there.

The Palestinian people began to confront the Zionist and British movements through armed resistance and demonstrations; the revolution of 1921, the Buraq revolution of 1929, and the revolution of 1936, which was renewed in 1937 and lasted until 1939. At the same time, Britain continued to confiscate land and Judaize it, while the UN addressed the Palestinian issue, issuing a partition resolution in November 1947, which provides for the creation of two independent Arab and Jewish states.

Events followed and the resistance intensified until the first Arab – Israeli war on May 15, 1948, which flared up after Britain officially withdrew from Palestine, and its results were the establishment of the state of Israel and its occupation of the bulk of Palestine, in addition to the displacement of most of the Palestinian people from their cities and villages under the pressure of Zionist groups that committed massacres against the Palestinian people to force them to leave their land. The Palestinian Arab people lived as refugees in camps scattered in neighboring countries.

Following the 1948 war, nothing remained of Palestine except the West Bank, which was subject to Jordanian administration, and the Gaza Strip, which was subject to Egyptian administration until 1956. The armed Palestinian revolution was launched in 1965, led by the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, Fatah, with the aim of liberating Palestine, after the Israeli aggression in 1967. Israel took control of all Palestinian territory after it occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and tens of thousands of Palestinian people were displaced outside their homeland once again.

Second: the area of historical Palestine and the rest of the land

The total area of historical Palestine is 27.009 square kilometers, while the area of the proposed state of Palestine (as stated in UN Resolution 181, which is known as the partition resolution in 1551948) on the territories occupied in 1967 (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) is 6209 square kilometers and represents 22.95% of the area of historical Palestine as follows:

1-the area of the West Bank is 5844 kilometers, constituting 21.6% of the total area of the land of historical Palestine.

2-the area of the Gaza Strip is 365 square kilometers, and it constitutes 1.35% of the total area of the land of historical Palestine.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the Israeli occupation controls more than 85% of the total land area in historical Palestine (the West Bank, Gaza and Israel).

After the political and geographical reality imposed by the occupying power, the actual remaining area for Palestinians of the total area of the West Bank is less than 54% of the area of the West Bank, after the Israeli occupation seized 46% of the area through settlement, the wall and occupation practices on the ground.

According to a statement by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, Israel uses about 76% of the area classified C of the West Bank under its control. Therefore, the remaining land for the Palestinians is not enough to establish a Palestinian state, and poses a threat to the Palestinian demography.

Third: Demographics of the Palestinian people

Demography is known as the science of population that is concerned with studying population characteristics such as size, distribution, density, composition, ethnicities, growth components (birth, mortality, migration), income level, etc.

Throughout history, the Palestinian state has witnessed many political, economic and social changes, which have caused profound demographic changes among the Palestinian people, affecting demographics, education, health, and the economy. According to the latest data released in 2023, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics showed a number of indicators related to the Palestinian population, the most prominent of which are as follows:

(A) population indicators:

1-14.5 million Palestinians in historical Palestine and the diaspora :

The number of Palestinians in mid-2023 reached about 14.5 million Palestinians in the world, including 5.5 million Palestinians in the state of Palestine, or 38% of the total number of Palestinians in the world.

The data of the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics show that the number of Palestinians residing within the 48 territories is about 1.7 million individuals, residents in Arab countries is about 6.5 million individuals, and residents in foreign countries are about 800 thousand individuals.

Figure 1 shows the number of Palestinians in the world by their place of residence:

The Palestinians in the State of Palestine are distributed as 3.25 million people in the West Bank (about 60%), including 1.65 million males and 1.60 million females, while the population of the Gaza Strip is estimated at about 2.23 million people (about 40%), including 1.13 million males and 1.10 million. One million females.

2- The Palestinian society is young and more than a third of its population is under 15 years of age:

Figure No. (2) shows the average family size in Palestine by region during the years 2007 and 2022

4-the population growth rate in 2023 in the state of Palestine reached 2.4%, with 2.1% in the West Bank and 2.7% in the Gaza Strip.

5-the crude birth rate in 2023 was about 28.8 births per 1000 of the population, 26.6 births in the West Bank and 32.0 births in the Gaza Strip. The crude mortality rate in 2023 in Palestine was 3.7 deaths per 1000 residents, 3.7 in the West Bank and 3.4 in the Gaza Strip.

6-the life expectancy of survival at birth for 2022 was about 74.3 years, 73.2 years for males and 75.4 years for females.

7-the percentage of the elderly (60 years and over) reached about 5.7% of the total population of Palestine, 6.3% in the West Bank, and 4.8% in the Gaza Strip.

The percentage of individuals in the age group (0-14 years) is estimated at 37% of the total population in Palestine in 2023, 35% in the West Bank and 40% in the Gaza Strip. The percentage of individuals aged (65 years and over) reached 4% in Palestine, 4% in the West Bank and 3% in the Gaza Strip.

B- Indicators of housing conditions and services:

1- About 81% of families in Palestine live in homes owned by a family member residing there. At the regional level, this percentage is distributed at 87% in the West Bank and 70% in the Gaza Strip in 2022.
2-The percentage of families who live in rented housing in Palestine reached 7% (5% in the West Bank, compared to 10% in the Gaza Strip), while the percentage of Palestinian families who live in housing without compensation or in exchange for work is 12% (7% in the West Bank). Western, compared to 20% in the Gaza Strip), during the year 2022.

3- More than half of the families in Palestine live in apartments:

The total number of families in Palestine who live in apartments reached about 54%, while 43% of families live in dwellings classified as a house, less than half a percent of families live in a villa, and 3% of families live in other dwellings such as a separate room or a tent. , or Barakia, or another in 2022.

Figure No. (3) shows the relative distribution of families in Palestine by type of housing

4-on average, 1.5 people live per room in Palestinian housing

The average housing density (number of persons per room) in Palestine was 1.5 persons/ room in 2022 (by 1.5 persons/ room in urban and rural areas, compared to 1.8 persons/ room in the camps), while the average housing density at the regional level was 1.4 persons/ room in the West Bank, compared to 1.7 persons/ room in the Gaza Strip.

5-about 5% of West Bank families live in overcrowded housing compared to 9% in the Gaza Strip:

6% of families in Palestine Live in high-density housing units (3 or more people per room) (5% in the West Bank, compared to 9% in the Gaza Strip), and at the level of the type of community, it is 6% in urban and rural areas and will increase to 9% in the camps in 2022.

It should also be noted that the average number of rooms in the dwelling reached 3.5 rooms in 2022 in Palestine, and the average number of rooms in the dwelling reached 3.5 rooms in urban and 3.6 rooms in rural compared to 3.2 rooms in the camps, and the average number of rooms in the dwelling in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip reached 3.5 rooms during the year 2022.

6- Only 4% of Gaza residents have access to safely managed, pollution-free water:

The data indicate that about 40% of the population in Palestine has access to safely managed and pollution-free water (free of E-Coli bacteria, 66% in the West Bank, compared to 4% in the Gaza Strip), and this percentage by type of community reached 36% in urban and 67% in rural, and this percentage decreased to 25% of the population in the camps in 2020

C-work indicators:

1-the labor force participation rate (for individuals 15 years and older) was 43.4%, where the female participation rate was 19% compared to 17.2% in 2021, and the male 71% compared to 69% in 2021.

2-the unemployment rate in Palestine in 2022 reached about 24.4%, and there is still a large disparity in the unemployment rate among participants in the labor force for individuals from 15 years and more between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where this rate reached 45.3% in the Gaza Strip, compared to 13.1% in the West Bank.

At the gender level, the unemployment rate for males in Palestine reached 20% compared to 40% for females in 2023. The unemployment rate reached 48% among young people (19-29 years old) with an average diploma and above, with 61% for females compared to 34% for males.

3-Approximately 40% of wage-employed workers in the private sector receive a monthly wage less than the minimum wage of (1,880 shekels), where the percentage reached about 38% for men, compared to 50% for women, and approximately 40% of female wage-employees in the private sector work. Without an employment contract, 44% receive a contribution to financing retirement/end-of-service benefits. In contrast, 46% of female wage employees in the private sector receive paid maternity leave.

D- Education indicators

1-The illiteracy rate among individuals aged 15 years and over in Palestine reached 2.2%, and this rate varied greatly between males and females. It reached 1.1% among males, while it reached 3.3% among females.

2- Females outperform males in completion rates for the lower and higher secondary levels, as these percentages reached 97% and 78%, respectively, while the percentages among males reached 90% and 53%, respectively.

3- The percentage of female students enrolled in Palestinian higher education institutions reached 62% of the total students enrolled in higher education institutions for the academic year 2021/2022, of whom about 10% are enrolled in the communications and information technology major.

4-The number of schools, according to the Palestinian Census data in 2021, was about 3,107 schools, with a number of teachers amounting to 59 thousand teachers annually and a number of students amounting to 1,338,353 annually.

E-health indicators:

1-the number of hospitals in 2021 reached about 89 hospitals, distributed among 54 hospitals in the West Bank, and 35 in the Gaza Strip.

2-the number of health centers in 2021 reached about 765, 64% of these centers are affiliated with the Palestinian Ministry of health, compared to 25% affiliated with non-governmental organizations, 9% affiliated with the relief agency and 2% affiliated with military services.

3-the number of doctors was 2.7 doctors per 1000 inhabitants, and the number of beds was 1.5 per 1000 inhabitants

F- Information Society Indicators:

1- In 2022, about 92% of families in Palestine reported that they or one of their members has access to internet service at home, 93% in the West Bank, and 92% in the Gaza Strip.

2-The percentage of individuals aged 10 years and over who used the Internet from anywhere was 89% in Palestine, 92% in the West Bank and 83% in the Gaza Strip, while the percentage was 89% among males and 88% among females.

3- About 79% of individuals (10 years and older) in Palestine own a mobile phone, 86% in the West Bank and 69% in the Gaza Strip. There is a clear gap in ownership of a mobile phone between males and females, as the percentage reached 83% for males and 76% for females. In 2022.

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Over the past decades, Egypt has provided about 100 thousand martyrs and 200 thousand wounded during its wars with Israel for the Palestinian cause.

The Egyptian state has always strived to bring the views of the Palestinian factions closer and achieve reconciliation to end the division and heal the Rift, and to form a unified national position that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a secure and stable life.

It should be noted that the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the division of Palestine into two states, “Resolution No. 181”, one Arab and one Jewish, considering Jerusalem as a distinct entity subject to a special international regime, with the approval of 33 countries, the rejection of 13 countries and 10 abstentions..

The origins of the partition decision date back to 1937, when the “bell committee”, tasked by Britain to investigate the causes of the Great Palestinian revolution in 1936, issued its report in which the partition proposal was mentioned for the first time.

And on May 14, 1948, the establishment of the state of Israel was declared on most of the territory of historical Palestine without clarifying its borders to this day.

We review the most prominent stations of Egyptian support for the Palestinian cause over the past 75 years as follows:

-1948, Egypt opposed the decision to partition Palestine, considering that it denied the right of the Palestinian people to exercise full self-determination on the whole of its territory.

-1950: Egypt opposed the plans that targeted the West Bank, asserting that it belongs to the Palestinian people, and demanded the need to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people on their land Palestine.

-1964, Egypt welcomed the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization and adopted the decision of the organization to establish a Palestinian Liberation Army and defined the obligations of the member states to assist them in the exercise of their functions.

– 1967, president Nasser called for the Khartoum conference and raised the slogan “no recognition, no reconciliation, no negotiation” with Israel.

– 1969, Nasser supervised the signing of the “Cairo” agreement in support of the Palestinian revolution, and continued his defense of the cause until his death in 1970.

– 1972, President Sadat proposed the idea of establishing a provisional government of Palestine in response to the claims of Golda Meir, the then prime minister of Israel, that there was no Palestinian people.

-1973, Egypt strongly assisted the efforts of the Palestine Liberation Organization until it was able to obtain full recognition from the Arab countries as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, during the sixth Arab Summit held in Algeria.

– 1974, thanks to the efforts of the Egyptian state, the UN General Assembly, in Resolution No. 3236(29th Session), affirmed the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of self-determination, the right of independence and the right of return.

– 1975: on the basis of an Egyptian proposal, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution No. 3375 ( 30th session) inviting the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in all efforts, discussions and conferences related to the Middle East..

– 1976, a proposal submitted by Egypt to grant the Palestine Liberation Organization full membership in the league of Arab states was unanimously approved, thereby giving the organization the right to participate in discussions and in the formulation and adoption of decisions related to the Arab nation, after its role was limited to participating in discussions on the Palestinian issue only..

– 1977, during his famous speech in the Israeli Knesset, President Sadat demanded a return to the pre-1967 borders.

-1982: the Egyptian ambassador was withdrawn from Israel after the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982 under President Mubarak.

-1988, as a result of intensive efforts in which Egypt participated, the first American decision was issued to open a dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization, thus opening the door to a new stage of peace efforts.

– 1989, President Mubarak put forward his peace plan, which included the need to resolve the Palestinian issue in accordance with the Security Council resolution, the principle of land for peace, and the establishment of political rights for Palestinians with the cessation of Israeli settlements.

–  1993: Egypt participated in the signing of the “Oslo” agreement on the right of Palestinians to self-government.

– August 1995, Egypt played a prominent role until the Cairo protocol was signed, which included the transfer of a number of powers to the Palestinian Authority.

–  September 1995: in the city of Taba..The interim agreement was signed to expand the Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank, and then it was finally signed in Washington on September 28, 1995 under the auspices of the Egyptian state, and in accordance with the Taba agreement, the Israeli withdrawal from the major cities in the West Bank, namely Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Bethlehem, then Qalqilya and Ramallah.

– 1997, as a result of the Egyptian efforts, the Hebron Agreement was signed on the general framework of security arrangements in the city of Hebron and the next stages of redeployment.

– 1998, Egypt supported the Palestinian side in its demand to abide by the “Wye plantation” agreement reached with Israel as an application of the Oslo Accords, which gave the impression that there was a breakthrough on the road to peace.

– October 2002, Egypt participated in the efforts that led to the adoption of the road map plan adopted by the quartet, which includes a comprehensive vision for resolving the Palestinian issue leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

-Since November 2002 : Egypt sponsors the Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue and hosts its tours with the aim of helping the factions achieve Palestinian reconciliation.

– 2003, Egypt supported the “Geneva” document between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a peace model to calm the situation in the region.

– 2004, Egypt launched an initiative to play a direct role in creating the conditions for the implementation of the Israeli withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip.

–  2008, Egypt confirmed its commitment to continue its contribution to supplying the Gaza Strip with electricity, as the Ministry of electricity and energy installed voltage capacitors on the electric lines extending from Egyptian Rafah to Palestinian Rafah to increase the power supply capacity in the cities and villages of the Gaza Strip isolated from the grid to meet the needs of the Palestinian brothers and relieve the burden of the blockade imposed on them by Israel, especially in the field of electricity and energy.

– Opening the Rafah land crossing for the sick, injured, humanitarian cases, Umrah pilgrims and students residing in Egypt and the Arab countries.

– In May 2014, Egypt succeeded in persuading the “Fatah and Hamas” movements to sign a reconciliation agreement under interim president Adly Mansour.

– After Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assumed the presidency of the Republic in June 2014, he stressed during his participation in the meetings of the UN General Assembly that the Palestinian issue is the top priority of the Egyptian state, and that there is no way for peace except by establishing the Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

– 2016: Sisi appealed to the Israeli people and their leadership to move towards peace with the Palestinians.

– 2017: the Fatah and Hamas movements signed an agreement to end the Palestinian division in Cairo, where Egypt invited a meeting to be held with the participation of all Palestinian factions that signed the Palestinian National Accord agreement in 2011. The two movements agreed on measures to enable the government of National Accord to exercise its functions and assume its full responsibilities in managing the affairs of the Gaza Strip, as in the West Bank, no later than on 1/12/2017, while working to eliminate all problems caused by the division.

– In 2018, during a youth conference at Cairo University, Sisi called on public opinion in Israel to seize the “great opportunity for peace” currently available.

– In 2021, Sisi announced that Egypt will provide 500 million dollars as an Egyptian Initiative allocated for the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the Israeli aggression against it.

– Sisi directed the opening of Egyptian hospitals to receive the wounded of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the defenseless Palestinian people.

– Since the brutal Israeli aggression that followed the “Al-Aqsa flood” operation in October 2023, Sisi has held intensive contacts with world leaders to discuss efforts to de-escalate and inject blood into the Gaza Strip.

Sisi stressed that there is no solution to the Palestinian issue except the two-state solution, while rejecting and deploring the policy of displacement or attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue at the expense of neighboring countries.

He declared that Israel’s reaction in Gaza goes beyond self-defense to collective punishment.

He said that what is happening in Gaza now is not limited to directing military action against Hamas in order to liquidate the Palestinian resistance, but is an attempt to force the civilian population to seek refuge and migrate to Egypt, which is “unacceptable and unworkable”.

The Houses of Representatives and the Senate declared that attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland and push them to seek refuge in Egypt are a war crime and an immoral attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

The Egyptian state refused the exit of foreign nationals from the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt before allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian brothers.

The president directed the sending of convoys to the Rafah crossing loaded with huge amounts of food and medical aid, including doctors from all specialties and medical devices, and waiting for the brothers in Gaza to enter.

The largest nationwide Blood Donation campaign has been launched in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

– On October 21, 2023, Egypt hosted the “international peace summit” called by President Sisi in order to contain the worsening crisis in the Gaza Strip and reduce the military escalation between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

Egypt will remain strongly supportive of the Palestinian cause and will do its utmost to ensure that the Palestinian people enjoy security and peace, achieve their dream of establishing their independent state and end the Israeli occupation.

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This research paper highlights the sustainable development goals and the economic dimensions of Egypt’s Vision 2030 based on the importance of achieving this and the necessity of developing strategies and drawing development policies with a more balanced future vision, through the following axes:

1- Sustainable Development Goals

2-areas of development in Egypt’s Vision 2030

3- performance measurement indicators to achieve development areas

4- the components and opportunities in the Egyptian economy

5- the challenges of achieving economic development in Egypt

6- knowledge economy as an approach to achieving development in Egypt

7- policies to achieve economic development in Egypt at the sectoral level

The most important findings of the paper are as follows:

1-there are several axes for the Egyptian government to deal with all developments to achieve sustainable development based on enhancing the role of the private sector in economic activity, raising its participation rate in the economy to 65% of the total investments implemented within 3 years and supporting the localization of national industries to rely on the local product.

2-the state strategy is based on the complete exit, reduction or stabilization of government investments directed to certain sectors and activities, as well as studying the continuation or increase of government investments in sectors with strategic or social dimensions, and announcing a program for private sector participation in state-owned assets with a target of 10 billion dollars annually for 4 years.

3- Announcing a clear and binding plan to reduce public debt as a percentage of national income, and reduce the budget deficit over the next 4 years.

4-Proposing an integrated vision to advance the Egyptian Stock Exchange, which includes offering companies owned by the armed forces, providing basic goods at subsidized prices, and social protection measures.

5- Egypt must rely on its own resources to achieve economic development in terms of investment, awareness, or developing capabilities, and translate them into effective policies that benefit Egypt, through preparing strategies capable of achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030.

 first axis: the goals of sustainable development

The 17 sustainable development goals adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015 are based on what has been achieved.

Among the successes in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), which represents a global vision and call to action to eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all peoples enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015, are based on the successes in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), and they represent a global vision and call to action to eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all peoples enjoy peace and prosperity by Year 2030.

The 17 goals are as follows: 1- End poverty, 2- Zero hunger, 3- Good health and well-being, 4- Quality education, 5- Gender equality, 6- Clean water and sanitation, 7- Clean and affordable energy, 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth, 9- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10- Reducing Inequalities, 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12- Responsible Consumption and Production, 13- Climate Action, 14- Life Under Water, 15- Life in Righteousness, 16- Peace, justice and strong institutions, 17- Contract of partnership to achieve goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals require working in a spirit of partnership and in a practical manner so that the right choices can be made to improve life in a sustainable way for future generations. They provide clear guidelines and targets for all countries to adopt according to their priorities, taking into account the environmental challenges facing the entire world.

Countries are now required to achieve high rates of economic growth ،preserve the environment and the right of future generations to resources at the same time, in addition to fighting poverty and corruption, protecting the consumer, and paying attention to education, training and scientific research. Achieving all of this requires the availability of large amounts of savings and financial resources, which often What these countries cannot fulfill.

Second axis: areas of development in Egypt’s Vision 2030

1- Economic development

Economic development is one of the most important axes of the economic dimension in Egypt’s Vision 2030 sustainable development plan, along with the axes of energy, transparency and efficiency of government institutions. The first axis “economic development” includes 7 goals, the foremost of which is the stability of macroeconomic conditions, and it includes reducing the ratio of public debt to GDP and the ratio of the total deficit to GDP, and maintaining the stability of the price level.

The second goal is to increase competitiveness, diversity and reliance on knowledge, which includes increasing the degree of competitiveness of the Egyptian economy internationally and raising the contribution of services to GDP, especially productive services such as maintenance of equipment and equipment, design and communications, shipping and transportation, in addition to the third goal “maximizing added value”, which includes increasing the local component in industrial content and reducing the trade balance deficit.

Egypt’s vision states that by 2030, the Egyptian economy will be a disciplined market economy characterized by stable macroeconomic conditions, capable of achieving inclusive and sustainable growth, and characterized by competitiveness, diversification, and knowledge-based.

2- Energy

By 2030, the energy sector will be able to meet all the requirements of sustainable national development in terms of energy resources and maximize efficient utilization of its various sources (traditional and renewable), leading to an effective contribution to promoting economic growth, national competitiveness, social justice, and environmental preservation, while achieving leadership in the fields of renewable energy. And the rational and sustainable management of resources, and is characterized by the ability to innovate, predict and adapt to local, regional and international changes in the field of energy, in the context of keeping pace with achieving the international goals of sustainable development.

3- Knowledge, innovation and scientific research

By 2030, Egypt will become a creative, innovative and productive society for science, technology and knowledge, characterized by an integrated system that ensures the development value of innovation and knowledge, and links knowledge applications and innovation outputs to national goals and challenges.

The repercussions of Corona in the first quarter of 2020 and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis imposed additional challenges on the Egyptian state, and their solution requires the search for additional sources of financing the Sustainable Development Goals, the most prominent of these challenges are the reduction of foreign exchange reserves, increasing public debt, and increasing the unemployment rate.

The Egyptian government expected that the negative repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war would continue during the current year on the Egyptian economy, which has incurred about 465 billion pounds in direct and indirect impacts since the outbreak of the war in early February 2022. The bill for the direct impacts amounted to about 130 billion pounds, represented by the prices of strategic goods and fuel, in addition to To interest rates and tourism, while indirect effects represented by increased wages, pensions, social protection and tax exemptions amounted to about 335 billion pounds.

The crisis also has its effects on Egypt’s foreign exchange revenues from tourism.during the period from July 2021 to January 2022, the number of tourists arriving to Egypt from Russia and Ukraine recorded about 31%. Russia and Ukraine occupy the first and second places in the ranking of the number of tourists arriving to Egypt during the period from July 2021 to January 2022, while Poland comes in sixth place with a number of tourists up to 214.1 thousand tourists and Belarus in the ninth place with about 146.6 thousand.

There are axes to deal with this crisis based on enhancing the role of the private sector in economic activity, raising the percentage of its participation in the economy to reach 65% of the total investments implemented within 3 years, and supporting the localization of national industries to rely on the local product. According to the cabinet, this step is based on improving the business climate, launching a package of various incentives, and opening direct communication channels with the private sector.

The state’s strategy in this axis is based on complete exit, and the reduction or fixation of government investments directed to specific sectors and activities. As for the third axis, it will be a study of continuing or increasing government investments in sectors with strategic or social dimensions, and announcing a program for private sector participation in state-owned assets, with a target of $10 billion annually for a period of 4 years.

 Third axis: performance indicators to achieve the areas of development

Egypt Vision 2030 developed a set of performance indicators that ensure quantitative measurement of the vision, as it specified values for the various indicators included in the strategic goals and objectives of the plan.

The performance indicators were divided into three groups. The first group expressed the strategic results, which was that the real growth rate would reach 12% in 2030, the per capita GDP would reach 10,000 US dollars, and the share of real GDP in the total real global product would reach 1. %, the percentage of poor people reaches 15%, and the percentage of the population below the extreme poverty line reaches 0%.

The second group is the output indicators. The performance indicators were represented in the percentage of industrial added value reaching 18% of the GDP, the percentage of merchandise and services trade reaching 65%, the net trade balance percentage reaching 1%, the percentage of services reaching 57%, and the percentage of the private sector’s contribution to the GDP reaching To 75%, and indicators at the output level determined that the percentage of high-technological exports of total Egyptian industrial exports reaches 6%, net foreign direct investment reaches $30 billion, and the value of outsourcing services revenues reaches $5 billion.

The third group expresses performance indicators related to inputs and specifies that income taxes reach 22.5%, value-added tax reaches 10%, the percentage of public investment managed by localities reaches 30%, the capital formation rate (investment rate) reaches 30%, and the value of Export support amounts to 8 billion pounds.

Fourth axis: components and opportunities in the Egyptian economy

1- Egypt’s strategic geographical location

Egypt is one of the most important global trade corridors between East and West. In addition to land transportation, which plays a major role in transporting foreign trade to and from Egypt, there are a number of canals, roads, and navigational and river corridors, whether natural or artificial, such as the Nile River.

2- Human energy

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in the Middle East, and its population is characterized by the fact that most of it is young. Egypt is considered a young country, with 61% of the total population under the age of 30.

3- The large size of the consumer market

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in the Middle East, and this makes it one of the largest consumer markets in the Middle East due to the large size of its population. Egypt also enjoys a network of international trade agreements that enable it to be a center for trade in the Middle East if these agreements are exploited well.

4- Tourism potential

Egypt has all the elements of tourist attractions, and tourism is one of the most important sources of national income and foreign currency for the Egyptian economy. In addition to the charm of nature and the splendor of the climate, Egypt includes about a third of the world’s monuments, and an ancient heritage. It is also characterized by the diversity of the tourism product between religious, historical, cultural, archaeological and therapeutic.

5-diversity of the Egyptian economy

Egypt’s economy depends mainly on the services sector, revenues from the oil sector, agricultural production, manufacturing industries, tourism revenues and Suez Canal income, which makes the Egyptian economy diversified, and protects this diversity from the negative impact of shocks that may affect one of these sectors, and it also gives Egypt a greater opportunity to participate and integrate into production and value chains at the global level.

 Fifth axis: the challenges of achieving economic development in Egypt

1- Challenges at the macroeconomic level

Over the past few years, the Egyptian economy has been exposed to a number of crises, which have led to a decline in growth rates, investment, employment, state general revenues, Government flows, an increase in government expenditures, an increase in the total deficit, the current and trade balance deficit, and the decline of the cash reserve to the lowest levels.the challenges of economic growth can be divided into challenges related to fiscal and monetary policies, investment, in addition to employment-specific challenges.

2- Operational challenges

Employment challenges can be limited to high unemployment, poor efficiency in the labor market, and the high size of the informal sector. Although some believe that this sector has contributed to providing job opportunities for a large number of young people, this work is not considered appropriate due to low wages and the absence of factors Security and safety, and its concentration in the trade and distribution sector, which negatively affected the productivity of this sector and deteriorated the quality of products that are not subject to supervision and harm the interests of consumers.

3- Investment challenges

The Egyptian economy suffers from some challenges that prevent increased investments, including weak domestic savings rates, a decline in foreign direct investment, and a lack of clarity in the mechanisms for allocating land, implementing contracts, protecting investors’ rights, and the rules of governance and transparency. The new Investment Law No. 17 of 2015 is a step in the right direction to develop the business environment and make it more attractive for practicing economic activity.

4- Challenges at the sectoral level

A-The industrial sector… The most important challenges are the complexity of the energy support system for energy-intensive projects, and the non-compliance of many industrial products with international standards as well as environmental standards.

B-In the Agricultural sector, the rates of loss in agricultural products are increasing, in addition to the relative limitation of the advanced agricultural manufacturing sector, the stagnation of marketing systems, the absence of contract farming, the lack of interest in post-harvest transactions, and the high rates of encroachment on agricultural land, which exceeded about 20 thousand acres annually.

C-In the water and irrigation sector, the most important challenges lie in the continuous population growth, which results in an increase in the demand for water services with limited water shares available, the deterioration of water quality due to pollution and the lack of financing and investments directed to the provision of water services at all levels.

D-In the tourism sector, the challenges are the lack of low-priced airline packages, the weakness of the electronic system for procedures for dealing with tourists, the lack of incentive policies, the weak marketing capacity of Egyptian tourism, and the low level of infrastructure necessary to connect different tourist areas.

E-In the transport sector, there is a weakness in the level of services in transport networks, means and services, insufficient coverage of public transport networks, insufficient safety and security measures in all transport networks, means and services, and high rates of traffic accidents.

Sixth Axis: knowledge economy to achieve development in Egypt

The World Bank defines the knowledge economy as one that achieves effective use of knowledge for real economic and social development. This includes bringing and applying different international knowledge, in addition to adapting and creating knowledge in order to meet the needs of society.

The knowledge society is a society in which all institutions and organizations enable individuals to develop without restrictions, and provide opportunities to produce and use all types of knowledge on a large scale for all members of society.

Steps to build the knowledge economy in Egypt

Global Knowledge Index 2021

The Global Knowledge Index 2021 represents a measure of knowledge as a comprehensive concept closely related to the various dimensions of contemporary human life in 136 countries around the world. The index depends on measuring the extent of development in 7 sub-sectoral indicators: pre-university education, technical education, vocational training, higher education, research, development and innovation, information and communications technology, economy, and empowerment.

Egypt advanced from 72nd place out of 138 countries in 2020 to 53rd place out of 154 countries in 2021 according to the Global Knowledge Index report and from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which includes multiple other indicators such as clear education.

Four basic elements of the knowledge economy: –

1- The availability of an economic incentive and institutional framework, which allows for the existence of good economic policies that help in the efficient allocation of resources, innovation and the use of knowledge.

2- The existence of an effective innovative system within companies, research centers, universities, consulting companies and other organizations that may participate in achieving the knowledge revolution.

3- The availability of skilled, trained technical personnel who can utilize various skills to use knowledge efficiently.

4- Creating an appropriate and modern knowledge structure that facilitates the use of communications and information technology.

Step one: determine the design characteristics

It is difficult to implement a work program aimed at achieving radical change to build a knowledge-based economy without adopting a methodology based on the spirit of innovation.

Second step: drawing up a proposal on the path of the knowledge economy that corresponds to the identified design characteristics, to the culture and conditions of the country.

Third step: testing the proposed mechanisms and procedures associated with the knowledge-based economy by comparing them with the specific characteristics of the design, and verifying how realistic they are for field application.

Step four: launching the knowledge-based economy campaign

seventh axis: policies for achieving economic development in Egypt at the sectoral level

1-Industry sector

The policies related to this sector are to correct the imbalance in the market, support fair competition, provide additional resources to support industry and other sectors, and continue the export orientation and openness to African countries, by achieving greater interconnection between industry and export growth, and converting part of commercial activities to manufacturing.

2- The agricultural sector

The policies related to this sector are represented in developing agricultural technology, encouraging contract farming, regional agricultural cooperation with African countries, and developing the agricultural investment climate.

3- Water and irrigation sector

Developing an integrated water resources management system, supporting water cooperation between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries, implementing joint water projects with African countries, conducting studies, research, and scientific and technical applications, while building databases and e-government.

4- Tourism sector

Promoting Egypt (as a tourist destination) and new products in the Egyptian market to reach different segments, such as hospital tourism, religious tourism, eco-tourism, desert and oasis tourism, conference and exhibition tourism, and opening up to new promising tourism markets with African countries.
5- The banking sector

Creating a mechanism to motivate banks to finance feeding industries, developing and diversifying financing services, activating the role of the Export Development Bank and the Egyptian Export Guarantee and Finance Company, and expanding export risk services, especially for African countries.

Conclusion

Achieving economic development in Egypt must depend on its own resources, whether in terms of investment, awareness, or developing capabilities, and translating them into effective policies that benefit Egypt, through preparing strategies capable of achieving Egypt’s 2030 vision.

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Digital transformation will reduce corruption, bribery, mechanization and electronic connectivity of state actors will facilitate transaction procedures and speedy judgement in cases of litigation to achieve justice, all of which are catalysts to attract investment. Digital transformation will also contribute to restricting control and reorienting the use of state property to serve the transformation of digital life.

In this context, the Strategic Forum for Public Policies and Development Studies issues a research paper on analyzing the performance potential of e-commerce and virtual companies in Egypt, through the following axes:

First: The performance of e-commerce and virtual companies in Egypt and Africa

Second: The Egyptian government’s procedures to facilitate the procedures of virtual companies

Third: Ease of doing business in Egypt

Fourth: Ways to support and stimulate e-commerce and virtual companies in Egypt

The paper’s findings are as follows:

-The number of internet users in Egypt increased to about 75.7 million users in January 2022, compared to 21.9 million users in January 2012, and the number of mobile internet users reached 68.5 million users in June 2022, compared to 59.7 million users in June 2021, an increase of 14.9%.
-13.7% of internet users in Egypt use it to invest and carry out banking transactions via mobile applications on a monthly basis, while 15% use the internet to pay for services and utilities.

-Since 2022, the Ministry of Communications has started a program to host electronics manufacturers in Egypt, including Nokia and Vivo companies, which started manufacturing from Egypt.discussions are currently underway with Oppo and Xiaomi companies to open a factory in Egypt. talks are also being held with Samsung to expand its factory in Beni Suef.

-The value of government electronic payment and collection services through the electronic payment system amounted to about 3.7 trillion pounds (about 200 billion US dollars), while the value of revenues from taxes and customs amounted to about 1 trillion pounds.

-The “UNCTAD” report confirmed that Egypt is the first investment destination in the African continent for 2022, while the Rand Merchant Bank has identified the top 10 countries attractive for investment in Africa for 2021, and Egypt came in first place.

First: The performance of e-commerce and virtual companies in Egypt and Africa

-The virtual company relies on electronic employment, where the work is remote, and communication takes place between them by electronic means, and it has no fixed headquarters, and it bears no expenses when compared to the company’s physical expenses, and it saves a lot of money, time, effort, and buildings. A company can decide to shift from being a traditional company that operates according to the familiar and known ways to a virtual company that relies in everything it does on remote work.

Global e-commerce sales jumped to $26.7 trillion in 2019, up 4 percent from 2018, according to a report by the United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD). The report indicated that online retail sales grew significantly in many countries, with the Republic of Korea recording the highest share of 25.9% in 2020, up from 20.8% in the previous year, as the volume of e-commerce amounted to about 30% of Global (GDP) in 2020.

about 16% of companies in the world work remotely at a rate of 100%, while 44% of companies do not allow working remotely, According to the latest statistics of “findstack.com ” specialized in e-commerce affairs for the year 2022,She emphasized that 77% of employees say they are more productive when working from home, and the average annual income for remote workers is $4,000 higher than other workers. And she pointed out that 85% of managers believe that having teams with remote workers will become the new norm, while 74% of workers say that having the option to work remotely would make them less likely to leave the company.

The number of Internet users in Egypt reached about 75.66 million( 71.9%), and the average number of hours Egyptians spend on the Internet is 8 hours, according to the latest statistics of the virtual reality platform “Horizon World”, affiliated with “Meta Virus.” The Foundation indicated that the number of Internet users In Egypt, it increased from 21.9 million users in January 2012 to 75.7 million users in January 2022, and that 13.7% of Internet users in Egypt invest and carry out banking transactions via mobile applications monthly, while 15% use the Internet to pay for services and utilities.

The number of mobile Internet users also reached 68.5 million users in June 2022, compared to 59.7 million users in June 2021, an increase of 14.9%, according to the data of the annual bulletin of telecommunications statistics issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in June 2023. The number of users reached Internet via ADSL reached about 10.5 million subscribers in June 2022 compared to 9.5 million subscribers in June 2021, an increase of about 10.7%.

Figure No. (1) shows the number of Internet users by mobile phone according to months

Source: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

-Since 2022, the Ministry of Communications has started a program to host electronics manufacturers in Egypt, including Nokia and VIVO companies, which started manufacturing from Egypt, and discussions are currently underway with Oppo and Xiaomi companies to open a factory for them in Egypt, and discussions are also being held with Samsung to expand its factory In Beni Suef, noting that it was agreed with these companies that the proportion of the local component in the electronics industry be no less than 40%, and that the construction of about 2,800 mobile towers will be completed to improve mobile services provided to citizens, in addition to the construction of 1,000 mobile towers in the villages of a decent life. In accordance with international standards, with approvals from all concerned state authorities.

-About two years ago, the Egyptian Tax Authority took good steps in digital transformation systems, such as imposing the electronic bill system, which obliges every seller and merchant in Egypt to pay taxes online, allowing the state to monitor suspicious financing and money laundering plans.
The number of online shoppers in Africa is estimated at 21 million. The size of the e – commerce market in Africa is estimated at more than USD 60 billion in 2021, and the market is expected to witness an increase of USD 14.5 billion during the period (2025-2030), and it is expected to contribute to the creation of 3 million jobs on the continent by 2025.

-There are about 264 startups in the African continent working in the field of e-commerce and marketing and active in 23 countries, including the developed African countries Mauritius, Tunisia, South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Egypt and Algeria.

-Africa aims to increase online shopping through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which will benefit Egypt, as the agreement imposes on companies a 90% reduction in taxes imposed on products, free movement of funds and transactions, and seeks to form a customs union at the level of the African continent

Second: Facilitating the procedures of virtual companies by the Egyptian government

-The government is currently expanding to allow the establishment of virtual companies (online without the need for headquarters), to support the Egyptian economy, which is under pressure from the negative repercussions of the Russian – Ukrainian war.

-The government’s plan to confront the economic crisis was based on 5 main axes, starting with enhancing the value of the local product and industry, localizing foreign direct investments, exiting the state from public companies to provide opportunities for the private sector, restructuring public debt, a plan to advance the Egyptian capital market, and continuing to maintain the social dimension. The plan included government endeavors to facilitate online registration of startups, opening virtual businesses without the need for corporate headquarters, and amending legislation and laws to facilitate the establishment of one’s own companies. This contributes to the integration of the informal economy under the State’s formal umbrella, to be the best supporter of the local economy.

-The latest statistics of the Ministry of Finance regarding the digital transformation system in Egypt showed that the value of government e-payment and collection services through the system amounted to about 3.7 trillion pounds (about 200 billion US dollars). The value of revenues from taxes and customs reached about one trillion pounds, and the system indicated that the government succeeded in converting 96% of the electronic government cards to pay the dues of state workers to secured “Meeza” cards with contactless smart chips for workers in the state’s administrative apparatus. The first phase of the electronic bill system was implemented from October 2020 until the implementation of the sixth phase in February 2022.

-The opening of virtual companies supports the government’s directions to increase the share of the private sector in executed investments from 30% to 65% by increasing the number of companies present in the Egyptian market.

-The decision will also attract a number of foreign companies wishing to enter the Egyptian market, as this step facilitates many of the usual administrative procedures, foremost of which is the possibility of running business via the Internet without the need for residency. Start-ups costs renting their own headquarters and hiring workers.

-Egypt needs a technological infrastructure capable of meeting the expansion in the field of digital transformation, as an important and necessary step for the success of the ambitious plans and projects that it has begun to implement in all fields, including education and health projects.

Third: Ease of doing business in Egypt

-The “UNCTAD” report confirmed that Egypt is the first investment destination in the African continent for the year 2022, and the “Rand Merchant” bank identified the top 10 attractive countries for investment in Africa for the year 2021, with Egypt occupying the first place.
The ranking of countries is as follows: Egypt – Morocco – South Africa – Kenya – Rwanda – Ghana – Côte d’Ivoire – Nigeria – Ethiopia – Tunisia. There are several factors that contributed to the growth of the economy of the ten African countries that brought the report, including the sectors of manufacturing, construction, communication and information technology, retail trade, and banking and financial services.

-Egypt witnessed accelerated steps for advancement, development and modernization at all levels and in all parts of it, such as the road network that it established to raise the efficiency of transport and communication, which will have great economic effects on trade, industry and population movement within the country.
In an important step for the advancement of the country, the administrative capital was established to be the largest smart city in the world, where smart infrastructure works were implemented at the highest level of digital transformation tools, as well as modernizing work in government agencies and departments that will move to it.

-Major technology companies around the world are racing to develop smart robots for various uses or amazing technologies that simulate humans, and many of them were shown at international exhibitions such as Gitex, the world smartphone Conference, and others.

-There are huge disparities between and within countries in terms of penetration, affordability, and performance of digital services despite the digital revolution.

-While more than half of the world’s population currently has access to the Internet, the penetration rate does not exceed 15% in the least developed countries, or 1 person in 7, due to the high prices of Internet services through mobile phones or fixed lines.

-The reason for the improvement in Egypt’s ranking is due to the efforts made by the government, including the expansion of adopting modern technologies to provide Egypt’s digital services, the implementation of a huge project to develop the communications infrastructure with investments amounting to about $1.6 billion, and the execution of the second phase of the project in the current fiscal year with investments of $300 million, in addition to To create the legislative and legal environment that governs the uses of artificial intelligence by issuing the Personal Data Protection Law that regulates the relationship between the data owner and users.

Fourth: Ways to support and stimulate e-commerce and virtual companies in Egypt

The paper recommends developing clear policies on the use and availability of data, opening more technology centers to stimulate scientific research and development in the field of artificial intelligence, and working closely with SMEs, open source developers, and educational institutions to help them integrate artificial intelligence in various fields.

The proposals in more detail as follows:

1- It is necessary to spread the culture of digital innovation for all and achieve universal access to digital technologies, and provide data at affordable prices.

2- Adopting digital transformation by all ministries, which is an engine for the development process, especially for those who rely on electronic platforms.

3- providing assistance to start-up companies, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises in order to enhance competition and innovation.

4- The need to raise the efficiency of Telecom Egypt’s performance and enable it to establish a digital infrastructure that meets the needs of the state and society in digital transformation and major national projects such as the pre-university education development project.

5- Presenting a number of regional policies at the level of the African continent, within the framework of the continental free trade area, with the aim of integrating economies and implementing national digital strategies, which requires cooperation between African countries in various fields, including digital taxation, data security and the availability of information across borders.

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Attacking Muslims and their property, burning Qurans, and vandalizing mosques has become a regular and frequent occurrence, carried out under the protection of the police under the pretext of freedom of expression, and in complete disregard for the feelings of two billion Muslims around the world.
What happened in Denmark, Sweden, and many other European countries, in terms of burning the Qur’an, reflects the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia” in it, and legitimizing it in light of the authorities’ permitting such actions, and deliberately distorting the image of Muslims and intimidating Western society from their presence.

In order to address the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”, which poses an imminent threat to global coexistence, especially the Muslims represent nearly 10% of the total population of Europe and constitute a source of intellectual, scientific and cultural wealth for Europe, the Strategic Forum for Public Policies and Development Studies issues “Deraya” a research paper that monitors and analyzes the reality of The phenomenon of Islamophobia in European countries through the following 7 axes:

First: The concept and origins of “Islamophobia”.

Secondly, “Islamophobia” is a manifestation of racism.

Third: Indicators of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Fourth: Reasons for the rise in the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Fifth: the challenges to addressing the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Sixth: The efforts of the Egyptian state to confront “Islamophobia”.

Seventh: Proposals to eliminate the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

The main findings of the research paper are as follows:

1-The phenomenon of “Islamophobia” is a form of racism and discrimination that affects all aspects of Muslims’ lives, from education and work to obtaining citizenship and full participation in society.

2- a big gap between official reports and the reality of the spread of “Islamophobia. Only about 12% of Muslims who are discriminated in the EU countries report their cases to the authorities.

3- “Islamophobia” has become institutionalized. France, Austria and Denmark are the most exacerbated countries in Europe.

4- The French authorities took control of 1,727 Islamic institutions, closed about 118 and confiscated about 10 million euros between January and August 2022.

5- Attacking about 42% of the 1,800 mosques in Britain.

6- European governments refuse to recognize the problem of “Islamophobia” and to set a specific definition for the term.

The research paper also suggests the following:
1- Considering hostile behavior against Islam and Muslims as a crime punishable by international law.

2- Enacting legislation and laws targeting extremist and racist groups that practice hostile manifestations against Muslims on the ground and virtually, and ensuring that they are punished for the racist crimes committed.

3- Develop a specific definition agreed upon by the countries of the world regarding the term Islamophobia in order to allow Muslims to report any crimes they are exposed to.

4-Activate the political and social roles of Muslim communities as part of the fabric of society and not as second-class citizens.

Reasons of the high frequency of “Islamophobia”

Several reasons for the high frequency of “Islamophobia”, including

1- Ignorance of the Islamic religion: There is a clear ignorance of the reality of Islam in the Western world, which derives information about it from sources that lack a correct understanding of Islam, objectivity, and integrity،Where Islam was branded with terrorism, fanaticism, contempt for women, intolerance towards non-Muslims, rejection of democracy, and the pursuit of a culture of revenge.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and other horrific acts of terrorism allegedly carried out in the name of Islam, institutional mistrust of Muslims has grown to epidemic proportions. Many countries, along with regional and international bodies, have responded to the security threats by adopting measures that target Muslims more than others.

2-Western media: it played a major role in the spread of “Islamophobia”, as it was able, with its massive technologies and wide influence, to carve a very negative stereotype about Islam and Muslims, and worked continuously to demonize the image of Arabs and Muslims as they pose a threat to Western and non-civilized values. They are able to integrate into these societies and tend to embrace extremist terrorist ideas.

3-The agendas of the extreme right: direct their arrows at Muslims and hold them responsible for the problems of the countries in which they reside, and then deal with Muslims as a “scapegoat” for any political or economic failures, which perpetuates hate speech and increases acts of racism against Muslims, such as burning the Holy Qur’an and writing inflammatory phrases on Walls, physical and verbal abuse of Arab immigrants or non-Arab Muslims, and other racist behavior.

4- The crisis of immigrants and refugees: the arrival of two million refugees, most of them Syrians, to Europe since the beginning of 2015) caused a state of fear and anxiety among the working and middle class in Europe because of employment opportunities, health and social care, and how to absorb these huge numbers of refugees within their countries, What resulted from this crisis was the deterioration of the economic conditions, which worsened with the Corona pandemic and after the Russian-Ukrainian war.

 Challenges facing the “Islamophobia”

There are many challenges when trying to eliminate this phenomenon in light of the growing wave of hostility against Islam and Muslims in the whole world and the emergence of an urgent need to address it, the most prominent of which are as follows:

1- United Nations resolutions on confronting “Islamophobia” are not binding on member states, such as the resolution that stipulates “intensifying international efforts to strengthen global dialogue on promoting a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels on the basis of respect for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs.”

2- Targeting Islam and Muslims by the extreme right in Europe in an unprecedented way, presenting them to the world as extremists and advocates of killing, intimidation and terrorism, and who cannot coexist with Western societies.

3- Considering the abuse of Islamic religious symbols and sanctities as a kind of freedom of opinion and expression, which represents a threat to human freedom in what he believes, which is something that arouses the feelings of Muslims and their anger.

4 – Impunity for perpetrators of hate crimes against Muslims.

5- Restricting the participation of Muslims in presenting the media discourse that expresses the tolerant values of Islam and not participating in developing the necessary plans to correct the image that has been attached to Islam.
6- The Western media relates Islam with the Arabs and presents them as controlling the oil and petroleum markets and spending money irresponsibly, while ignoring the fact that Islam is a universal religion for millions of Europeans, Americans and peoples of the Asian continent and is not linked to a specific nationality, race or geographical area.

7- The interpretation of Islamic texts by some extremist terrorist organizations according to their own goals, in a way that enables them to justify their actions and crimes against humanity.

8- The emergence of movements against the presence of Muslims in Europe, such as the anti-Muslim “PEGIDA” movement, which succeeded in mobilizing demonstrations, the number of which exceeded 20 thousand demonstrators, denouncing the presence of Muslims in their countries and in Europe.

9- The chaos of using false news on social media, which led to an increase in news targeting Islam and Muslims, with the difficulty of verifying its authenticity.

10- The spread of secularism in European society and the growth of discourses and discussions that support modernity and reject religion in general.

11- The scarcity of studies and questionnaires that measure the repercussions of “Islamophobia” on Muslims and its impact on them. Most of the studies and statistics have been carried out by European bodies and institutions.

The Egyptian State’s Efforts to Confront “Islamophobia”

Egypt warns of the dangerous and negative repercussions of contempt for all religions, abuse of their adherents, and desecration of their sanctities, which leads to growing “Islamophobia”, provoking hate speech and extremism, and encouraging destructive endeavors and ideas that seek to destroy the bonds of civilized communication between the peoples and societies of the world.

In the statements issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it stresses the need for state authorities to take measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of attacks against Muslims and their sanctities, and to hold the perpetrators accountable, in an effort to preserve the culture of tolerance and the principles of peaceful coexistence, dialogue, and acceptance of the other.

Egypt has the largest religious institution in the world, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, which is characterized by its correct and moderate approach, and is always keen to preserve the moderation of Islam and resist the claims of the West and their attempts to undermine it, and to address the spread of the culture of fear of Islam “Islamophobia” through thought, discussion and taking a number of executive measures.

1- Establishing the “Al-Azhar Global Observatory for Combating Extremism” in twelve languages.

2- Establishing the “Al-Azhar International Center for Electronic Fatwa” in Arabic and a number of other languages, including: English, French and German, to eliminate the chaos of fatwas.

3- Establishing the “Al-Azhar Center for Translation” to be concerned with translating books that illustrate the true image of Islam in eleven languages, and sending them to embassies of foreign countries and international organizations in and outside Egypt.

4- Establishing the “Center for Interfaith Dialogue in Al-Azhar Al-Sharif” to be a new beginning in which intellectual, religious and civilizational dialogue with followers of other religions and civilizations would be a way of harmony and coexistence.

5- Dispatching “international peace convoys” to many countries of the world in cooperation with the Council of Muslim elders to promote peace and spread the culture of tolerance and coexistence.

6- Sending “Al-Azhar missions” to more than 80 countries, to spread the enlightened moderate Islamic science.

7- Launching the “East-West Dialogue Project” on the concept of pluralism and integration between East and West. One of its most important activities was the “First Forum of Muslim and Christian Youth,” with the participation of fifty young people from different countries of the world.

8- Establishing the “Al-Azhar Academy for the Training of Egyptian and Expatriate Imams, Preachers, and MuftisTo promote the moderation of Islam and spread it through these moderate Azharite ambassadors in the whole world.

9-Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta has also established the “Islamophobia” observatory, which monitors cases of racism and discrimination practiced against Muslims in all countries of the world and provides correct information about the teachings of the Islamic religion.

Proposals to eliminate “Islamophobia”

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution defining the 15th of March of each year as the International Day for Combating Islamophobia. This day coincides with the anniversary of an extreme right-wing extremist storming two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and shooting at worshipers, killing 51 people and wounding others.

The repercussions of “Islamophobia” no longer only affect Muslim communities in the West, but also extend to the relations of countries with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to make more efforts to confront this phenomenon, and this can be done through the following set of mechanisms and proposals:
1- Considering the hostile behaviors against Islam and Muslims as “Islamophobia” a crime punishable by international law.

2- Enacting domestic legislation within countries and concluding international agreements aimed at punishing extremist and racist groups that practice hostile manifestations against Muslims.

3- Determine a definition agreed upon by all the countries regarding the term Islamophobia in order to allow Muslims to report any crimes they are subjected to, as the lack of a specific definition contributed to the disastrous spread of the phenomenon.

4- Compelling the international community to adopt policies or an international plan of action to address discrimination and prejudice on the basis of religion, especially the Islamic religion.

5- Opening channels of communication with civil society in Western countries interested in combating racial discrimination, hatred and insulting religions, with the aim of introducing the values of Islam, and encouraging the establishment of a global dialogue on promoting a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels.

6- Activating the political and social roles of Muslim communities, as part of the fabric of society and not second-class citizens.

7- Providing the major and concerned religious institutions with a clear and agreed-upon interpretation of some Islamic texts that terrorist groups exploit as a cover for their criminal actions.

8- The need to combat misleading and anti-Islam information, and oblige social networks to remove all content that discriminates against Islam and Muslims or incites hatred or harm against them.

9- Strengthening media campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the danger of Islamophobia, promoting a positive image of Islam, correcting misconceptions, and presenting dramatic works that reflect the true image of Islam and Muslims.

10- Translating fatwas and reference books that respond to proponents of Islamophobia into different languages.

11- Expanding studies, field research and surveys on the extent of Muslims’ exposure to discrimination, hate speech, and psychological and physical attacks, provided that they are published periodically.

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Attacking Muslims and their property, burning Qurans, and vandalizing mosques has become a regular and frequent occurrence, carried out under the protection of the police under the pretext of freedom of expression, and in complete disregard for the feelings of two billion Muslims around the world.

What happened in Denmark, Sweden, and many other European countries, in terms of burning the Qur’an, reflects the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia” in it, and legitimizing it in light of the authorities’ permitting such actions, and deliberately distorting the image of Muslims and intimidating Western society from their presence.

In order to address the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”, which poses an imminent threat to global coexistence, especially the Muslims represent nearly 10% of the total population of Europe and constitute a source of intellectual, scientific and cultural wealth for Europe, the Strategic Forum for Public Policies and Development Studies issues “Deraya” a research paper that monitors and analyzes the reality of The phenomenon of Islamophobia in European countries through the following 7 axes:

First: The concept and origins of “Islamophobia”.

Secondly, “Islamophobia” is a manifestation of racism.

Third: Indicators of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Fourth: Reasons for the rise in the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Fifth: the challenges to addressing the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

Sixth: The efforts of the Egyptian state to confront “Islamophobia”.

Seventh: Proposals to eliminate the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”.

The main findings of the research paper are as follows:

1-The phenomenon of “Islamophobia” is a form of racism and discrimination that affects all aspects of Muslims’ lives, from education and work to obtaining citizenship and full participation in society.

2- a big gap between official reports and the reality of the spread of “Islamophobia. Only about 12% of Muslims who are discriminated in the EU countries report their cases to the authorities.

3- “Islamophobia” has become institutionalized. France, Austria and Denmark are the most exacerbated countries in Europe.

4- The French authorities took control of 1,727 Islamic institutions, closed about 118 and confiscated about 10 million euros between January and August 2022.

5- Attacking about 42% of the 1,800 mosques in Britain.

6- European governments refuse to recognize the problem of “Islamophobia” and to set a specific definition for the term.

The research paper also suggests the following:

1- Considering hostile behavior against Islam and Muslims as a crime punishable by international law.

2- Enacting legislation and laws targeting extremist and racist groups that practice hostile manifestations against Muslims on the ground and virtually, and ensuring that they are punished for the racist crimes committed.

3- Develop a specific definition agreed upon by the countries of the world regarding the term Islamophobia in order to allow Muslims to report any crimes they are exposed to.

4-Activate the political and social roles of Muslim communities as part of the fabric of society and not as second-class citizens.

First: the concept and origins of Islamophobia

The term Islamophobia is one of the relatively recent terms, and it is seen as a compound term consisting of two words, an Arabic word “Islam” and a Greek word “phobia”, which means an unconscious and unjustified fear of situations, people, or activities, and therefore the term is considered foreign. It is not Arabic and translates to fear and phobia of all that is Islamic.

Islamophobia can also be regarded as the most eloquent expression of Islam’s status in the West. It is a word that has entered the dictionary of European politics and turned into a single term with limited meanings. It refers to the phenomenon of Western society’s fear of Islam and their perception of it as a non-coexistent religion with modern material civilization, and one that justifies the use of violence to achieve its aims.

United Nations defined “Islamophobia” as a term that means fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism, it targets the symbols and markers of being a Muslim.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation defined the phenomenon of “Islamophobia” as the excessive fear of Islam and Muslims, or anything related to the religion of Islam, such as mosques, Islamic centers, the Holy Quran, the veil, etc.

Here, a distinction must be made between two basic stages in which the events of 11 September 2001 stand as a dividing point:

The first stage: the stage before the eleventh of September 2001 AD, which is characterized by the scarcity of using the concept, despite the fact that the Islamophobia and its intellectual implications is an old phenomenon.

The second stage: After the events of September 11 and the horrific terrorist operations that followed (the Madrid bombings in 2004, the Moscow bombings in 2010, etc.) that were allegedly carried out in the name of Islam, suspicions towards Muslims escalated and the mental image of Muslims was promoted as killing innocent people, and the mental image of Muslims was promoted as killing innocent people. The use of the concept in a remarkable way, and this term has become widely used by many in European countries and the United States of America.

Secondly:“Islamophobia” is a manifestation of racism

Islamophobia is a form of racism and discrimination because it targets Muslims based on their religion. Racism is reflected in “Islamophobia” in the negative trend, unjustified fear, sharp criticism and prejudice directed against Muslims, as well as the threat to their security in the streets, transportation and all life activities, And committing murders and acts of violence against them, such as physical assaults, destruction of property, ill-treatment of women, especially those who wear the hijab, burning mosques and distorting the sacred symbols of Islam.

Thus, it can be emphasized that the phenomenon of “Islamophobia” has come to affect all aspects of Muslims’ lives, starting from education and work, leading to obtaining citizenship, citizenship rights and full participation in society, which contradicts the values of justice, equality and human rights, which are guaranteed by Article 18 of the Law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom to manifest his religion or belief through worship, rituals, practice and education, alone or with a group.

Third: Indicators of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia”

The majority of reports and studies indicate that the phenomenon of Islamophobia is on the rise in European societies, most notably the recent European report on Islamophobia for the year 2022, which indicated that the phenomenon of Islamophobia has become institutionalized, and that France, Austria and Denmark are the most countries where the phenomenon of Islamophobia in Europe is significantly worsening.

A report issued by the Islam phobia Observatory of the O I C revealed that the continent of Europe has occupied the first place in the scale of the spread of the phenomenon of “Islamophobia”, followed by Asia and then North America, while the observatory indicated that both France and Britain included the most prominent activity related to Islamophobia.

It should be noted here that there is a large gap between official reports and the reality of the spread of the phenomenon of Islamophobia in its various dimensions, especially since the vast majority of European countries do not record incidents of Islamophobia as a separate category of hate crimes, which limits the mechanisms for revealing the true extent of the growth of this phenomenon, as well as the establishment of about Only 12% of Muslims who experience discrimination in European Union countries report their cases to the authorities.

This analytical paper monitors the most prominent indicators of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia” in most European countries, based on several international sources and reports, most notably the “Islamophobia in Europe 2022” report, as follows:

A- Hate crimes and attacks against Muslims and their religious institutions:

France: The Coordination for Combating Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE) recorded in its report about 501 complaints in France during the year 2022, as stated in the Islamophobia in Europe report in the same year, which confirmed that the policy of “obstruction” pursued by France led to the control of 1727 Islamic institutions, and the closure of 118 and confiscation of 10 million euros between January and August 2022.

Britain: Religious hate crimes recorded a greater increase in Britain in 2022, by 37% compared to 2021, as the number of Muslim victims reached 3,459 out of 8,730, constituting 42% of the total victims of hate crimes.

Germany: 364 crimes due to Islamophobia were recorded, including 26 targeting mosques, noting that crimes exceed these numbers, especially since the latest official statistics have not yet been issued by political bodies in Germany.

Spain: Hate crimes increased in 2021 by about 401 crimes compared to the total number of hate crimes in 2020, according to the annual report for 2021 issued by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior in October 2022.

Austria: More than 1,000 hate crimes against Muslims were recorded in 2022, according to the “Islamophobia in Europe 2022” report. The Documentation and Guidance Center for Austrian Muslims also mentioned in its report issued in early 2022 that Austria witnessed 1,324 racist attacks against Muslims, most of which were on websites and digital platforms in this country.

And that 15% of those who were subjected to racism and verbal and physical attacks were men, while about 40% of the attacks targeted women.

Netherlands: The report “Islamophobia in Europe 2022” noted that about 67% of attacks against Muslims were related to belief.

Denmark: The report confirmed that approximately 49% of the 792 hate crimes that occurred between 2017 and 2021 were committed against Muslims.

In the absence of State condemnation and impunity for hate crimes, incidents of racism were increasing and the problem was worsening.

B- Discriminatory decisions and laws against Muslims:

the most prominent indicators of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia” is the decisions taken by governments and political parties, and the accompanying legislation that directly targets Muslims and limits their religious practices, and they are treated differently from other religious communities, which has led to the closure of Islamic institutions and NGOs without any lawsuit or evidence of their extremism, as they claim.

Western countries apply different types of laws such as banning the call to prayer, mosques and veiling. In Belgium, for example, ritual slaughter is still prohibited in some areas, and in Sweden and Denmark many Islamic schools have been closed on the claim that “the children there are at risk of extremism.”
In 2022, the French Minister of Education launched a campaign targeting Muslim students and teachers, claiming the spread of religious symbols in French schools.

In the Netherlands, the Minister of Education decided to place non-formal education in mosques and Islamic weekend schools under inspection and monitoring as a form of restriction and limitation of the freedom of education.

The European Court of Justice has also upheld laws prohibiting the wearing of women’s veils in private institutions to prevent the appearance of any Islamic symbol on the pretext of preserving their neutrality

C- Political discourses hostile to Islam and Muslims:

Organized political speeches and campaigns directed against Islam as a religion and against Muslims are among the most prominent forms of the growing phenomenon of “Islamophobia.” For example, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to continue publishing cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, saying: “We will not abandon drawings and caricatures, even if some back down.” as “freedom of expression”.

During her presidential campaign in 2022, Marine Le Pen described the hijab as an “Islamic outfit” and explained that she wants to ban it in all public places and put those who wear it under penalty of financial fine, while French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour stated during his campaign that: “Muslims should take a distance from the Quranic text that pushes to fight Jews and Christians, to restrict the freedom of women, And that integration is the only possibility of accepting Muslims on French soil.

For his part, Czech President Milos Zeman said: “We respect Islamic countries and their beliefs, as long as their inhabitants do not come to Europe because once they arrive in Europe, the two civilizations collide with each other,” calling on his country’s citizens to be careful about what he described as “terrorists.” Islamists.

The Dutch (right-wing) Freedom Party also proposed during its electoral program the application of a restrictive immigration policy and a complete ban on immigrants from Islamic countries. The right-wing politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, published a video clip on his Twitter account under the title “No to Islam, No to Ramadan.” Freedom, not Islam.”

d-Growing popularity of the extreme right:

Extreme right-wing parties in Europe worked to perpetuate fear of Islam and Muslims and sought, through their systematic campaigns, to distort Islam and attach charges of “terrorism” to every Muslim residing in their countries, exploiting this matter to achieve electoral goals and political gains. It is represented in increasing the number of votes that it reaps through the ballot boxes, and access to power, so slogans appeared, including “Islamization of Europe” and “the hidden Islamic threat”, and other slogans that provided the extreme right with a discourse heard by a large segment of European societies.

Some right-wing parties have also established organizations aimed at countering “Islamization” in Europe, and supporters of the far-right in Germany launched in 2014 the “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West” movement called “PEGIDA”.

There are several prominent parties of the extreme right, spreading in European countries and openly expressing their hostility to Muslims, the most prominent of which are the Dutch Freedom Party, the French National Front Party, the Austrian right-wing popular party, the Danish right-wing popular party, the Danish Nationalist Party, the German Alternative for Germany party .. and many others.

E- Deliberately not using the term “Islamophobia”:

European governments refuse to recognize the problem of “Islamophobia” and use the term in their discourses. There is a political insistence not to recognize the existence of a racist problem against Muslims in order to legitimize and support racist practices on a large scale.

The British government refused to adopt a definition of the term “Islamophobia”, which had been proposed by a number of Deputies of some parties, after a warning from experts and specialists that this step may hinder the fight against terrorism and may undermine the right of airport and seaport police officers to arrest and search suspects, without obtaining prior permission.

G-Duplication in dealing with refugees

Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the duplicity in dealing with refugees was evident by various European countries, as refugees from Ukraine were welcomed because of their religion, claiming that they were “more civilized compared to Syrian refugees,” while Europe closed borders and erected walls to prevent refugees from other regions, led by them. Muslims.

Many European officials have stated that Muslim refugees constitute a “threat to the demographic character and Christian identity in Europe,” and they warn of Muslims becoming the majority of the population in Europe if Muslim refugees continue to be received.

And they stress that: “Receiving Muslim refugees means providing fertile soil for carrying out possible terrorist attacks”. For example, the Ukrainian refugee, upon his arrival in Germany, the state directly grants him the right to work, and his children the right to education. The British government also granted Ukrainian refugees great facilities, and urged citizens to receive them in their homes in return for supporting them with monthly sums of money, while Muslim refugees are exposed to separation from Their families, living in camps, and being treated in a humiliating manner, and it has come to the point of assaults on them by the police deployed at the borders.

F- Employment racism

European countries are witnessing clear manifestations of racial discrimination against Muslims in the labor market, where many of them are deprived of various job opportunities despite the availability of the necessary qualifications and sufficient experience, which constitutes a violation of their rights and a failure to achieve justice and guarantee equal opportunities.

A research published on the Oxford University website in July 2022 stated that 65% of Muslim women who attach their photos in the hijab with a CV when applying for a job in the Netherlands and Spain are rejected without being invited for an interview.

Some reports indicate that a Muslim may face discrimination five times more than others when looking for a job in some European countries.

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-The Egyptian state has adopted a comprehensive concept of development based on the fact that the Egyptian citizen is the focus of development plans and the main engine for them, and then sought to improve the vital sectors that affect his life, such as health, education, social security and other sectors.

-President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to the village of Al-Abadia, affiliated to the Damanhour Center in Beheira, came to inaugurate and inspect a number of development and service projects within the village within the framework of the “Decent Life” initiative, which included the health unit, the Al-Abadia nursing home, the technological services complex, and the agricultural services complex.

-The President’s visit reflected the volume of the achievement of the “Decent Life” initiative in reality and the extent of its contribution to changing the way of life for more than half of Egypt’s population in the villages and rural areas of Egypt, to become one of the most prominent community initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life, reducing the average poverty rate in the targeted villages, and even It becomes the most important in the modern history of Egypt, as the initiative aimed to develop about 4,584 villages, whose population represents about 58% of the total population of the Arab Republic of Egypt, at a cost exceeding 500 billion pounds in its various stages, after its launch in 2019.

-This has not happened on the land of Egypt for decades because of its enormous cost and the weakness or lack of infrastructure in these places.

-It also led to the marginalization and deterioration of the conditions of the rural and Upper Egypt population, migration from these governorates and villages, a decline in the area of agricultural land, and consequently a decrease in the volume of crops – especially the strategic one – and the increase in the volume of importing agricultural crops from abroad and pressure on the state budget.

-The total number of projects implemented in Abadiah amounted to about 79 projects in all sectors, including 22 communications projects, 7 educational buildings projects, 8 electricity projects, 13 drinking water projects, 9 projects in the health sector, and 8 sanitation projects. And 3 youth and sports projects, and 2 irrigation projects. And a project in every sector (gas, social solidarity, government services complex, agricultural services complex, markets, ambulance point, fire station).

-The president’s visit carried many messages and answers to many questions, as Sisi was keen to answer all questions transparently and objectively during his dialogue with the people, leaders and youth of the lake. The most important messages are as follows:

1- The political leadership’s realization of the role of youth in achieving development: The president saluted and thanked the youth volunteers in the “Decent Life” initiative for the effort they made to help the villagers and change their lives for the better through the initiative’s projects.

2- Taking care of the most needy groups and the elderly: The President was keen to visit the “Abadiah Nursing Home”, and expressed his great happiness for being with them and making sure that all their needs were met, and he responded to the request of some to perform Hajj and Umrah.

3- Ensuring the completion of the process of digital transformation and mechanization of services: the President’s tour in the village of Al-Abadiyya included a visit to the Technology Services Complex, which includes the provision of notarization services, the Egyptian Post, Civil Status, and the local unit, while the complex provides more than 161 services, including some services that end on the same day.

4- The state’s determination to complete the health insurance system: the president made sure that his tour included the health unit of the village of Al-Abadiyya. There he listened to a detailed explanation from the director of the unit, who confirmed that it serves 37 thousand citizens and will be the first to join the comprehensive health insurance system.

5– Working to increase the agricultural area, purchasing agricultural crops at an appropriate and competitive price, and completing the implementation of “decent life” projects: The President called on the people of Al-Buhaira to preserve the agricultural lands that have soil suitable for agriculture and not to waste them by building on them.

6- National projects are a reality experienced by Egyptians: The President stressed that Egypt in all its governorates is witnessing a comprehensive development plan at all levels, as land reclamation projects included for example in all governorates of the Republic, including Sinai, despite the exorbitant cost.

7-Egypt is a big country and does not trade in refugee issues : the president explained in his open dialogue with the people of Beheira governorate that Egypt hosts 9 million refugees from a number of countries suffering from conditions of fighting and internal conflict, adding that this number is likely to increase with the continuation of the turbulent situation in Sudan, where Egypt has received over the past 7 weeks about 220 thousand Sudanese, stressing that Egypt is a large country and does not trade in refugee issues.

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The development of agricultural exports is one of the most important goals of planners of agricultural economic policies in Egypt, which depends on expansion and diversification in the production and export of products and crops in which Egypt enjoys a competitive advantage in global markets, especially vegetable and fruit crops.

The future of Egypt depends on achieving a big leap in its exports, which is an important source for providing the foreign exchange needed to advance development, and the agricultural sector is the most capable of optimal allocation of natural and human resources to provide the local market with its needs, create new job opportunities and attract more domestic and foreign investments And then achieve the target growth rates.

Therefore, this research paper aims to analyze the development of agricultural exports in Egypt, the obstacles they face, the measures that have been taken, and some proposed solutions to avoid banning Egyptian exports. Finally, the paper ends with the policies that can be followed to enhance the performance of agricultural exports in Egypt.

The most important results of the study were as follows:

The total agricultural exports amounted to 5,19,411 tons during the period from January 1, 2022 to October 4, 2022.Citrus fruits ranked first in agricultural exports in 2022, with 1,632,936 tons exported. Potatoes ranked second, with 855,920 tons exported. Citrus fruits represent 45% of the total agricultural crops exported, followed by potatoes 16%, onions 8%, fodder 4%, and grapes 3%, during the period (September 2020-June 2021).

Egypt accounts for 38% of the world’s orange exports, at a value of $662 million, and 8% of the world’s fresh and dried onion exports. Egypt’s grape exports increased by 13% during the 2020-2021 season, and the European Union countries are the main importers of Egyptian grapes, and Egypt is looking forward to entering new markets such as Argentina and New Zealand.

Egypt is the world’s foremost exporter of frozen strawberries, and strawberry exports grew by 59% in 2021, registering $244 million compared to $153 million in 2020.The Arab countries are in first place with 41% of the most important importing conglomerates of Egyptian agricultural earners during the period (September 2020 – June 2021), followed by European countries outside the European Union with 25%, followed by EU countries with 19%, Asia with 11%, and Africa with 1% of total Egyptian agricultural exports.

First: Analysis of the  agricultural development exports in Egypt

The total agricultural exports amounted to 5 million 19 thousand and 411 tons during the period from January 1, 2022 to October 4, 2022, while it amounted to about 5 million, 640 thousand and 144 tons of agricultural products in 2021, an increase of 486 thousand and 768 tons over 2020, which amounted to 5 million and 153 thousand and 376 tons.

The total agricultural exports of citrus fruits in 2022 amounted to 1,632,936 tons, in addition to exporting 855,920 tons of fresh potatoes, ranking second in agricultural exports after citrus, while 343,022 tons of onions were exported, ranking third in exports.

In  2021, the total agricultural exports of citrus fruits amounted to one million 805 thousand and 893 tons, in addition to the export of 650 thousand and 340 tons of fodder beets, ranking second in agricultural exports after citrus fruits, while 614 thousand and 424 tons of potatoes were exported, ranking third in exports. Onions ranked fourth in agricultural exports, with a total of 276,141 tons. While grapes ranked fifth in exports, with a total of 143,450 tons, while Egypt’s potato exports ranked sixth, with a total quantity of 113,598 tons. Egypt’s exports of pomegranates ranked seventh with a total of 86,629 tons, followed by mangoes in eighth place with a total of 38,132 tons.

Strawberries ranked ninth in exports with a total amount of 35,538 tons, while beans ranked tenth in agricultural exports with a total of 28,565 tons, garlic ranked eleventh with a total of 19,193 tons, and guavas ranked twelfth. With a total of 16,887 tons, while watermelon got the thirteenth place in agricultural exports, with a total of 9,474 tons, and pepper got the last place, with a total of 8,590 tons. This is illustrated by the following diagram:

Figure No. (1) The most important agricultural exports during 2021

Source: Audio and Visual Information Center

The following figure shows the extent of the increase in the quantity of Egyptian agricultural exports in 2021 compared to 2020

Figure No. (2) Egyptian agricultural exports in 2021 compared to 2020

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Egyptian Land Reclamation

Figure 2 shows an increase in the amount of Egyptian exports of agricultural earnings in 2021 by about 10%, which is equivalent to 2.2 million tons

Table No. (1) Egyptian agricultural exports distributed among the most important items during the period (September 2020 – June 2021)

Source: The General Authority for Export and Import Control, Foreign Trade Data

Table No. (1) shows the most important varieties of Egyptian agricultural crops exported during the period (September 2020-June 2021), where citrus represents 45% of the total agricultural crops exported, followed by potatoes 16%, onions 8%, fodder 4%, and grapes 3%.

Table No. (2) Egyptian agricultural exports distributed to the most important geographical conglomerates during the period (September 2020 – June 2021)

Source: The General Authority for Export and Import Control, Foreign Trade Data

Table No. (2) shows the most important blocs importing Egyptian agricultural crops during the period (September 2020-June 2021), and Arab countries are in first place with a percentage of 41%, and European countries outside the European Union with a percentage of 25%, followed by European Union countries with a percentage of 19%, then Asian countries accounted for 11%, then African countries accounted for 1% of the total Egyptian agricultural exports.

The following chart shows examples of some of these blocs:

Figure No. (3): Total Egyptian agricultural exports according to importing countries during the first half of 2021

Source: The General Authority for Export and Import Control, Foreign Trade Data

Figure No. (4): Total exports of agricultural commodities during the period (January 2019 – February 2020) in thousand tons

Figure 4 shows the development of Egyptian agricultural exports during the period (January 2019 – February 2020), where exports experienced a volatility of 7 million tons in March 2019, fell in June 2019 to less than 6 million tons, continued to fluctuate, and then declined during January and February until approaching 5 million tons in February 2020.

Indicators show that Egyptian merchandise exports achieved a slight increase during the first quarter of 2020, amounting to 2% and recording $6.7 billion, compared to nearly $6.6 billion last year, according to the latest report issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. And that the agricultural crops sector came in fourth place in terms of the values ​​achieved for Egyptian exports in the first quarter of 2020, after it recorded the value of exports of $821 million during that period in 2019, as the building materials sector came in first place with a value of $1.5 billion, and chemicals and fertilizers in the center. The second, with a value of $1.25 billion, then the food industry, with a value of $881 million.

It also indicates the most important markets receiving Egyptian exports during the first quarter of 2020, represented in the following: the UAE with a value of $747 million, the United States with a value of 381 million, Italy with a value of $385 million, Saudi Arabia with a value of 380 million, and Spain with a value of $241 million.

Second: Obstacles facing Egyptian agricultural exports

– Obstacles to optimal use of export energy: It includes the lack of effective marketing of Egyptian products in foreign markets, with the high cost of subscribing to overseas exhibitions even as part of the government’s cost but still high with a large number of competitors, and the low level of port services with high transportation costs.

– Constraints on export capacity: The cost of production is increased as a result of higher prices of production inputs, such as higher wages compared to productivity level, insufficient capital with difficult access to credit, tighter conditions and requirements for access to finance, also higher prices of other inputs, and increased cost especially after foreign exchange rate liberalization.

– Obstacles to the prohibition of certain exported products: Irrigation water is contaminated as a result of the dumping of waste, both sewage and agricultural, resulting in contamination of agricultural products, and Egyptian exports are therefore rejected. Many countries have banned a range of Egyptian crops, including strawberries, peppers, pomegranates, guava and grapes.

For example, Saudi Arabia banned jasmine and guava, and some other countries followed the same approach, such as Bahrain. Some Arab countries submitted letters to the Egyptian agricultural quarantine stating that the procedures for entering Egyptian agricultural exports in general were tightened, as the two countries demanded an attached certificate showing that shipments conform to the limits allowed for residues Pesticides according to international standards “Codex”, with a certificate of analysis indicating that attached to the exported shipments.

There is also a problem related to the timing of shipments, as it is necessary to adhere to the dates stipulated in the contracts, which caused Egypt’s former exit from the international cotton markets. Agricultural goods transported by fast-damage air cargo, such as grapes, strawberries, guava and beans, are among the most significant and serious problems facing Egyptian agricultural exports and are related to Egypt Air’s intervention so that the slowness does not result in serious losses to exporters and refusal to receive them from importing countries.

Third: the measures taken to increase agricultural exports

The Egyptian government has taken a number of measures to increase agricultural exports of vegetables and fruits. These measures are as follows:

-Intensifying the work of the technical devices for agricultural quarantine in the ports and border crossings to facilitate the export of agricultural crops in accordance with international standards around the clock.

-Opening new markets to increase exports of vegetables and fruits, and working 24 hours for agricultural quarantine inspectors to increase exports abroad.

-Introducing agriculture in all the initiatives announced by the Central Bank and the government to face this crisis.

-Coordination between the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade, Industry and Finance to solve all agricultural export problems.

-Not to close any workshops, mattresses, or packing stations for agricultural exports (while undertaking to take the required health precautions in accordance with the law).

-Applying tracking systems for export products during the stages of cultivation, production, packaging and export, and strict procedures are followed in accordance with international standards for export quality. In this regard, the government issued Resolution No. 670 of 2017 between the Ministries of Agriculture and Industry to set standards for vegetable farms and packing stations wishing to export.

Fourth: Proposed Solutions to Avoid Banning Egyptian Agricultural Exports

-Activating the role of agricultural and informational guidance regarding export conditions and international standards, in addition to using the latest international methods in cultivating, transporting and preserving the Egyptian product.

-Intensifying technical committees for agricultural quarantine at various export sites at border crossings, sea and land ports, and sorting and packing stations to facilitate control over agricultural exports.

-Tightening control over exported Egyptian products to ensure their conformity with the standard specifications of the importing country, along with establishing protocols with them on how to deal with violations or mismatches in specifications, which limits the exclusion of the Egyptian product from competition.

Putting severe penalties on agricultural companies that work in the field of export and that export products that do not meet the specifications because they harm the reputation of the Egyptian agricultural product.

Fifth: Proposed policies to promote agricultural exports

A number of policies can be proposed to maintain the competitive advantage of Egyptian agricultural exports. The proposed policies are as follows:

-The importance of economic incentives for farmers being an integral component of agricultural policies, whether short or long term, especially since the farmer makes his production and marketing decisions based on an analysis of the cost and return associated with each of them.

-Supporting small farmers, given that they are negatively affected more than others, in light of the failure to activate the laws of contract farming and agricultural solidarity.

-Scheduling the debts owed by farmers and granting them loans on easy terms and small interest to urge them to continue the activity and encourage others to engage in the activities of the agricultural sector.

-Transforming all forms of in-kind support provided to farmers into cash support so that the support reaches those who are actually entitled to it, and the crisis of fertilizer distribution is eliminated every season, in addition to its contribution to reducing the consumption of chemical fertilizers.

-Securing Egypt’s needs of strategic crops, the most important of which is wheat, by cultivating it in coastal areas, so that the agricultural area can be increased without at the expense of other crops in which Egypt enjoys a high comparative advantage in production, in anticipation of any future price hike or any export restrictions for strategic crops.

-Finally, it is necessary to continue to closely monitor food price levels and to tighten the supervision of food commodity markets. Through accurate knowledge of market movements, the Government will be able to manage the integrated market by guiding farmers and producers to make logical production decisions and combating speculation in the stages of food supply chains, as well as monitoring the quality and safety of food products and preventing producers’ and consumers’ practices that may negatively affect food markets.

It is also necessary to work on ways to immediately support farmers and agricultural and food productive enterprises, such as providing temporary subsidies to farmers and supporting production inputs, reducing funding costs and facilitating access, and reducing or delaying tax, insurance and rental bills.

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“Digital violence” is the most dangerous type of violence that women who use social networking sites in particular are facing recently, with the increase in the scope of the Internet where virtual life intersects with reality, restrictions are broken, and privacy vanishes, which may represent a threat to societal stability in general.

Given the growing form of violence and its serious repercussions on societies, the Strategic Forum for Public Policies and Development Studies “Draya” issues this report, which deals in detail with the definition of the concept of “digital violence”, its types, repercussions and indicators at the Arab and local levels, as well as the efforts of the Egyptian state to confront this phenomenon and presenting some proposals that may contribute to reducing it.

The report addresses this issue through the following axes:

First: the concept of digital violence

Second: the characteristics and types of digital violence

Third: the repercussions of digital violence on women

Fourth: Indicators of the prevalence of digital violence against women in the Arab world and locally

Fifth: The Egyptian state’s efforts to confront violence against women

Sixth: Proposals to confront digital violence against women

Seventh: Proposals to confront digital violence against women

First: the concept of digital violence against women

The United Nations defines violence against women in general as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women and girls, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation.” freedom, whether in the public or private sphere. Violence against women and girls includes, but is not limited to, physical, sexual and psychological violence that occurs in the family or within the general community, and is committed or condoned by the state.”

Based on the fact that digital violence against women is an extension and perpetuation of violence against her in the real world, digital violence can be defined as “the deliberate behavior of an individual or group of individuals through one of the techniques of electronic social networking sites and its various tools with the aim of material or moral harm to others.” “.It can also be defined as any act of violence against women that is committed using mobile phones, the Internet, text messages, e-mail, or social media.

Second: Characteristics and types of digital violence

Successive technological developments have imposed a number of features of digital or electronic violence that have made it more impactful on women victims than other forms of violence, which can be summarized in the following characteristics:

1- More severe in its repercussions than the methods of traditional violence: the perpetrators of this type of crime enjoy the possibility of concealing their real names and identities, and the extent of his crimes impact on the victim is not known, which may sometimes lead to suicide for fear of stigma, discrimination or defamation that the female may be subjected to. or her family.

2-Global and transnational: This type of violence against women is not prevented by the boundaries of space or time. Technological progress is also used to diversify the form and content of violent, aggressive and illegal practices at any time, transcending geographical and temporal boundaries without any restrictions.

3-Evolving and continuing: Electronic violence is constantly evolving with the development of modern technological methods that help the impact of this violence to remain for a long time. It is also a continuous behavior in most of its cases, as in cases of insult, slander and defamation, unless the perpetrator is caught and technical intervention is made to end these crimes.

4- The ease of its occurrence and the speed of its spread: This is due to the rapid spread of malicious and false information and rumors and  the ease of access to them, and they are often irretrievable. Once they are published on the Internet, the offender cannot stop them.

5- Absence of physical interaction: There is no physical interaction between the communicating parties (the perpetrator – the victim), and it does not require great energy in confronting the victims like traditional violence, and it also depends on mental and mental skill and competence, not the physical.

6- Easy access to the victim and the difficulty of her self-defense: Social media enabled the perpetrators to reach the victim at any time and in any place, and at the same time made it very difficult for the victim to defend herself or avoid this type of violence.

The United Nations Women’s Organization has identified the types of digital violence directed against women in 6 forms as follows:

1- Hacking: using the technology to illegally or unauthorized access to women’s systems or accounts for the purpose of obtaining personal information, changing or modifying their information, or defaming and discrediting the target victim.

2- Impersonation: Technology is used to carry the identity of the victim or another person in order to gain access to private information, embarrass or disgrace the victim, communicate with them, or create false identity documents.

3- Tracking: Technology is used to stalk and monitor the victim’s activities and behaviors, either at the time of their occurrence or which occurred earlier.

4- Harassment: the use of technology to continuously communicate, disturb, threaten or intimidate the victim, provided that this behavior is repeated and continuous and not a single incident, through continuous calls, text messages, voice mail or e-mail.

5- Recruitment: Technology is used to attract potential victims in cases of violence, for example fraudulent jobs and advertisements, whether on social media or job opportunity sites.

Third: The repercussions of digital violence on women

The repercussions of digital violence on women usually lead to results that outweigh the negative effects of traditional types of violence. And come on top of them:

1- Psychological repercussions: Women who have been exposed to one or more forms of electronic violence usually suffer from depression, isolation, stigma and shame, and sometimes they may resort to suicide.

2- Social repercussions: Victims’ families usually prefer not to disclose the cybercrimes their girls are exposed to, for fear of what society and those around them will look at, and the growing doubts about the behavior of these girls. It deepens the feelings of anger within these societies, especially the conservative Arab ones.

3- Economic repercussions: Digital violence and defamation of the victim may lead to her losing her job and reducing her opportunity to join another job. The matter becomes even darker if the victim is a woman who supports the family. Her exposure to this type of crime and her inability to defend herself makes the family’s economic situation extremely difficult and affects directly to the children.

Fourth: Indicators of the prevalence of digital violence against women in the Arab world and locally

The United Nations Population Fund indicated in its latest census that the global prevalence rate of digital violence against women and girls is 85%, and this includes women who have personally experienced or witnessed it against other women.

1-Digital violence against women at the Arab level

The results of a survey conducted by UN-Women’s regional office in the Arab States (May 2020) showed that online violence was the most reported form of violence during the early months of the pandemic, as follows:

-49% of female Internet users in Arab countries report that they do not feel safe because of online harassment.

-16% of women in Arab countries report experiencing online violence at least once in their lives.

-60% of women who have ever experienced online violence experienced it during the Corona pandemic.

Iraqi women have the highest rates of exposure to digital violence at a rate of 70.4%, followed by Yemeni women at a rate of 62.3%, then Jordanian women at a rate of 60.4%, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 1: Percentage of women who have previously experienced online violence

-44% of women who have experienced online violence have experienced it more than once.

-The most common form of digital violence is receiving unsolicited images or symbols of sexual content at 43%, followed by harassing phone calls or inappropriate communications at 38%, receiving insulting messages at 35%, and direct sexual extortion at 22%.

-Facebook is the first platform in which women are exposed to violence at a rate of 43%, followed by Instagram at a rate of 16%, then WhatsApp at a rate of 11%, as the following figure shows:

Figure No. (2) Platforms in which women in Arab countries are exposed to violence on the Internet

12% of women who were subjected to violence on the Internet, reported their exposure to physical violence after informing the family of the incident.

35% of women who were subjected to violence on the Internet reported feeling sad and depressed, among them about 35% reported that they had lost confidence in the people around them, while 12% of women reported that they had suicidal thoughts.

Following digital violence, 36% of women subjected to online violence were asked to ignore the order, 23% were blamed, 21% were asked to delete their social media accounts and about 12% were subjected to physical violence by the family, as illustrated in the following figure:

Figure No. (3) The effects of digital violence on women’s lives

51% of women confirm that the attack on them via the Internet was “without a specific reason”, while about 23% of them believed that the reason was their outward appearance, and about 16% believed that the reason lies behind the advocacy of women’s rights.

2- Digital violence against women in Egypt

Egyptian society has witnessed great and successive technological developments in recent years, and digital transformation has become a priority for the Egyptian state apparatus, which allowed the majority of individuals to increasingly use the Internet and social networks, as they spend most of their time on it and share their private lives through it, which coincided with an increase in the rates of women’s exposure to violence.

According to data from the Ministry of Communications, the percentage of women who use the Internet to communicate with others through social networks such as “Facebook” and “Twitter” is about 91.2%, compared to 94.87% for males.

The latest report of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics revealed that the number of Internet users via mobile phone increased by 12.5% ​​during the first 10 months of 2022, as the number of Internet users during the first 10 months of 2022 reached about 69.5 million users, compared to 61.8 million users during the same period. The period from 2021.

These high percentages of internet and social media use indicate an increased likelihood of women in Egyptian society being exposed to digital violence. This was confirmed by an opinion poll conducted by Plan International, which was published by the Ministry of Social Solidarity on its website, as it indicated a high percentage of girls in Egypt who were subjected to electronic harassment, which is a form of digital violence.

Sixth: State efforts to confront digital violence against women

The issue of combating and eliminating violence against women in all its forms receives great attention from the state, as all state agencies work to preserve women’s rights and not harm them in any way, as stipulated in the 2014 constitution, which includes many articles that guarantee the empowerment of women and the protection of women. her rights. The most important efforts are as follows:

1.  The Egyptian legislator has been working on issuing a law on electronic harassment, and the legislator has described harassment as every exposure to others in a public or private place, or subjected to sexual or pornographic matters, suggestions, or insinuations, whether by sign, word, or deed by any means, including wired communications. or wireless or electronic, or any other technical means.

2-He set penalties for private and general deterrence, and he was included in the penalty of imprisonment between two and four years, and included in the fine between 100 thousand pounds to 200 thousand pounds, or one of these two penalties. The legislator has increased the penalty in the event of repeating the act to imprisonment for a period of not less than three years and not exceeding five years and a fine of not less than two hundred thousand pounds and not more than three hundred thousand pounds, or one of these two penalties.

3. The Egyptian legislator is currently working to amend Law No. 175 of 2018 regarding combating information technology crimes to make it in line with the technological development in the current era to address the crimes of personal extortion suffered by members of society, especially girls, in light of the social system in the Arab world, where girls are subject to many restrictions and controls Which makes them vulnerable to pressure, which makes it easier to blackmail and put pressure on them.

4-Therefore, the legislator thought of amending Article (25) that relates to the sanctity of private life and attacking it through filming, recording, or eavesdropping without the knowledge or consent of the person, or in cases other than those authorized by law, or publishing information, news, or pictures that violate the privacy of others without their consent, whether Was this information correct or incorrect?As well as Article (26), which relates to the use of modern information programs and technologies and the possibility of changing the reality that would affect the dignity, honor and person of a person, which would expose him to extortion and threats.

5 Launching the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Women 2015-2020 to meet the needs of society in confronting violence against women in all its forms and manifestations, through four main axes: prevention, protection, interventions and legal prosecution.

6- The Ministry of Interior worked to firmly address the practices of violence against women in general and digital violence in particular, in several ways:

7- Allocating special units in police stations to confront violence against women, as female police officers have been appointed to examine facts related to them.-

8- Increasing the number of patrols designated for rapid intervention in response to any emergency communications related to violence against women.

9- Organizing courses at the Police Academy in the field of combating violent crimes against women, with a review of the best international practices on coping, cooperation and support mechanisms to reduce these crimes.

10  – Dedicating an operations room to receive harassment complaints – including electronic harassment – through hotlines designated for this purpose.

11- The National Council for Women established units to combat violence against girls in Egyptian universities in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and the United Nations Population Fund with the aim of supporting the basic concepts of equality and equal opportunities to achieve empowerment and psychological and social support for women, as 23 units have already been established and supported at the level of public universities and 3 units in private universities .

12-The establishment of the Egyptian Women’s Observatory with the aim of following up the implementation of the goals related to the status of women in the period from 2015 to 2030 through:-Preparing a set of periodic reports on the status of Egyptian women and the gender gap.

13- Inventory and presentation of laws related to women.

14- Measuring the progress achieved in all areas related to the empowerment and protection of women by following up the values ​​of the indicators of the follow-up to the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 and the indicators of sustainable development related to women.

15- Launching a number of campaigns through which violence can be addressed, especially digital, most notably.

16-Campaign “Don’t be silent” on highways, and design and broadcast audio and video advertisements to encourage reporting of cases of harassment.

17- “Speak…Protect yourself and others” campaign to raise awareness of electronic dangers and ways to report digital violence.

18- Launching the “Railway Safety” campaign at railway stations to raise awareness of forms of violence against women.

The media played a prominent role in this regard, as it established platforms for social communication with the aim of eradicating digital illiteracy and spreading awareness of the seriousness of electronic crimes and digital violence that women may be exposed to, and how to protect digital devices from hacking and theft of personal information.

Seventh: Proposals to confront digital violence against women

The Egyptian state has made strenuous efforts, especially under the current political leadership, to empower women and protect them from any violence they may be exposed to. The directives of the political leadership motivated all state agencies to accelerate the pace in this regard. However, there are proposals that can contribute to preserving women against digital violence:

1- Addressing the people’s representatives to issue laws to confront technological development and the danger it poses in blackmailing and practicing violence against women, with demands that domestic and digital violence be classified as a crime against honor and should be recorded in the criminal record in case of recurrence.

2- Religious institutions, Al-Azhar and the Church, correct misconceptions about the nature of women and how to deal with them in a manner that preserves their dignity without harming them, and stresses the prevention of women’s exposure to violence in all its forms and forms, in accordance with the purposes of religion and custom in society.

3- The need for the media to prepare educational programmes, whether for women to know their rights and how to obtain them, or for young men and men to learn how to properly deal with women without harming them or exposing them to psychological and material harm. In addition to the important role of awareness about the laws related to the phenomenon of electronic violence so that some do not believe that when practicing this type of violence, he will be far from the penalty of law and accountability.

4- Tightening control over media and dramatic content, and removing any manifestations that promote violence in all its forms and manifestations, while highlighting the positive aspect of human relations.

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