Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the initial report of Egypt *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1–4)

1.Please indicate the concrete measures taken:

(a)To ensure that laws and policies are fully aligned with the human rights model of disability, enshrined in the Convention, and to ensure consistency in the definition of disability in the State Party’s legal framework;

(b)To ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention, with an estimated timeline to complete this process;

(c)To establish, strengthen and support advocacy efforts of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, including women with disabilities, children with disabilities and persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities;

(d)To implement Act No. 10 (2018) on the rights of persons with disabilities, including details of the main challenges to its implementation and the mechanisms used to assess its effectiveness;

(e)To mainstream disability into all national and local plans and public policies.

2.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in the development, implementation and monitoring of disability-related laws and policies, and other policy and decision-making processes, at the national and local levels.

3.Please provide information on concrete steps taken to provide adequate resources for and strengthen the mandates of the National Council for Women, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and the National Council for Human Rights.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

4.Please provide the Committee with information on the legal and institutional framework to implement anti-discrimination laws, including accountability mechanisms in cases of discrimination on the basis of disability, and on procedures to address intersecting forms of discrimination, discrimination by association, discrimination on the basis of a previous state of health, and discrimination against persons with disabilities experiencing poverty and against those residing in rural or marginalized areas.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

5.Please provide the Committee with information on the measures taken:

(a)To prevent multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls with disabilities;

(b)To prevent child marriage of girls with disabilities, particularly in rural areas;

(c)To ensure that all the State Party’s policies and programmes mainstream gender and disability;

(d)To guarantee that services for women survivors of gender-based violence and State-run shelters for women and girls are disability-inclusive;

(e)To empower women and girls with disabilities at the national and local levels, including through access to education and employment.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

6.Please provide the Committee with information on:

(a)The implementation and effectiveness of the provisions of the Child Actwith regard to the rights of children with disabilities;

(b)The measures taken to ensure the rights of children with disabilities with respect to family life, including measures to support children with disabilities in foster care and to support the parents of children with disabilities;

(c)The policies in place to enable access to early intervention for children with disabilities, and the measures taken to ensure that all programmes and public policies on childhood are disability-inclusive;

(d)The number of children with disabilities who do not live with their families, including those living in institutions, and the mechanisms in place for the deinstitutionalization of children;

(e)The performance of the National Observatory for the Rights of the Child and the way in which it mainstreams disability;

(f)The collection and analysis of high-quality data, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, ethnic and national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic background, on the implementation of the rights of children with disabilities;

(g)The measures taken to address all forms of discrimination, including prejudice against and stigmatization of children with disabilities, particularly children with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

7.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Plans of action and strategies adopted and implemented at the national and local levels to raise awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and the Convention;

(b)Strategies to raise awareness, such as campaigns and training programmes aimed at government officials, the private sector and the general public, including at the local level, in order to address and combat stigmatization, stereotypes and harmful practices affecting persons with disabilities;the way in which the State Party involves persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in awareness-raising activities;and the impact of these strategies;

(c)The concrete measures taken to eradicate misconceptions about and stereotypes of persons with disabilities, in particular in the media.

Accessibility (art. 9)

8.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To ensure accessibility in public facilities and services, including in public transportation, urban and rural infrastructure, schools and health and social services;

(b)To monitor the implementation and effectiveness of policies to remove barriers to accessibility, including the allocation of funds and the provision of continuous training on the matter;

(c)To impose sanctions, including financial sanctions, for non-compliance with accessibility standards, with details of the proceedings opened into such cases and the sanctions imposed over the past five years;

(d)To deliver continuing education on accessibility and universal design to architects, graphic designers, engineers and computer programmers, among other professionals, and to educate government actors on the matter;

(e)To guarantee access to information and communications technology for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, through the provision of information in Braille, Easy Read, sign language and other alternative and augmentative modes and means of communication.

Right to life (art. 10)

9.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To impose a moratorium on the death penalty, with data, disaggregated by disability, age and gender, on persons with disabilities who have been executed;

(b)To ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;

(c)To protect the right to life of persons with disabilities, particularly those facing heightened risks and discrimination, including persons with disabilities who are members of religious minorities, atheists, migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, persons living in poverty and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

10.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To ensure that disaster risk management is fully accessible and inclusive, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, and that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are meaningfully consulted and involved in the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction strategies and humanitarian assistance programmes;

(b)To ensure that migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities, including those from the Islamic Republic of Iran, South Sudan, the Sudan and the State of Palestine, have access to international protection and to the enjoyment of rights under the Convention.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

11.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To abolish the State Party’s interpretive declaration on article 12 of the Convention;

(b)To ensure the full autonomy of persons with disabilities, in particular blind persons and persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, to conduct their own legal affairs and to have access to bank services independently, including by recognizing their signature;

(c)To ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy and exercise their legal capacity in all aspects of life, including legal and institutional mechanisms in place for supported decision-making, particularly for persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities;

(d)To align personal status legislation with the Convention, including provisions on inheritance;

(e)To provide training to public officers at the national and regional levels, including government officials, judges and social workers, on the State Party’s obligations under the Convention, in particular under article 12.

Access to justice (art. 13)

12.Please provide information on the measures taken, at the national and local levels:

(a)To provide continuous training to the judiciary, prosecutors, judges, court staff and public defenders on the rights of persons with disabilities and the human rights model of disability;

(b)To assess individual needs and provide individualized support to persons with disabilities participating in judicial proceedings and ensure that they have access to the information and resources required to stand trial;

(c)To provide procedural accommodation in all courts, including details regarding the number of sign language interpreters, the accessibility of court buildings and the availability of official information in accessible formats, including Braille and Easy Read, for persons with disabilities;

(d)To ensure that public defenders in all jurisdictions have adequate and sufficient resources and personnel to provide legal aid to persons with disabilities.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

13.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

(b)To revise laws allowing deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability, including mental health laws, and to ensure that health services, including mental health services, are based on the principle of the patient’s free and informed consent;

(c)To ensure that all detention facilities are disability-inclusive and accessible and that persons with disabilities in detention have access to good-quality food and water and adequate medical care, particularly individuals with chronic illnesses or requiring assistive devices;

(d)To ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities in prisons are respected, withdata, disaggregated by disability, gender, age, type of verdict and duration of sentences,on persons with disabilities in prisons and detention centres.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)

14.Please provide information on the measures taken to abolish the use of physical or chemical restraints, solitary confinement and other non-consensual practices against persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, in particular those in psychiatric hospitals and other institutions, and to ensure that such practices, which are contrary to the Convention, are completely abolished, de jure and de facto.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

15.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To ensure the protection of persons with disabilities, in particularwomen, children and older persons with disabilities, from exploitation, violence and abuse, including all forms of domestic and institutional violence;

(b)To establish, with the active participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, protocols for the early detection of violence, particularly in institutional settings, and to provide procedural adjustments for the collection of victims’ testimonies, prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against persons with disabilities and provide reparations.

Protection of the integrity of the person (art. 17)

16.Please indicate the measures taken to prohibit and prevent forced treatment, including forced sterilization of persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities, and to ensure that children with disabilities are adequately protected from violence, abuse and exploitation, including forced begging, and that perpetrators are punished.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

17.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that personswith disabilities, especially those living in rural areas, those in institutions, and migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities, have access to social and rehabilitation services, and to identification documents.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

18.Please provide information on the steps taken:

(a)To implement policies and plans at the national and local levels to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the right to live independently and to be included in society;

(b)To carry out an effective strategy for the deinstitutionalization of all persons with disabilities, with a clear timeline for implementation, and indicating the number of persons with disabilities who have been deinstitutionalized;

(c)To enable all persons with disabilities to enjoy their right to freely choose their place of residence, on an equal basis with others, and to have access to the full range of home, residential and other community-based services, including personal assistance.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

19.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To facilitate the personal mobility of all persons with disabilities in all areas of life, including through individualized support;

(b)To ensure that persons with disabilities and their families have access to mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

20.Please provide information on:

(a)The mechanisms used to ensure that national, regional and local authorities disseminate official information in accessible formats;

(b)The measures taken to ensure that sign language interpreters are available and that persons with disabilities have access to information intended for the general public and to the media in all accessible formats, including Braille, Easy Read, interpretation for deaf or blind persons, sign language, audio description and captioning.

Respect for privacy (art. 22)

21.Please provide information on laws for the protection of the personal data of persons with disabilities.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

22.Please provide information on the concrete measures taken:

(a)To provide support for parents of children with disabilities, especially mothers, who often leave their jobs to care for their children;

(b)To ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise their rights and assume their responsibilities in parenting or adopting children, or in similar situations, on an equal basis with others.

Education (art. 24)

23.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To adopt and implement a coherent and inclusive education strategy to transform the alternative education system, which provides for “special” education, into an inclusive, high-quality system that provides support within the regular system for all children with disabilities, including children with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities and deafblind children, with information on the benchmarks, baselines and indicators used in the framework of this strategy and on the resources allocated for its implementation, in rural and urban areas;

(b)To ensure access to inclusive, equitable and high-quality education for all children with disabilities, especially those living in rural areas and children with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, and to guarantee accessibility and provide reasonable accommodation in educational settings;

(c)To ensure that educational environments are free from bullying, harassment and discriminatory treatment, particularly for children with disabilities;

(d)To eliminate unnecessary or excessive administrative requirements that hinder or delay access to education for children with disabilities, especially in rural areas;

(e)To promote and encourage the training and recruitment of teachers with disabilities.

Health (art. 25)

24.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To ensure that health facilities, services and equipment and medical information, including specialized services, are accessible, including financially, to all persons with disabilities;

(b)To train health professionals on the human rights model of disability;

(c)To eliminate discriminatory and negative attitudes towards and stereotypes of persons with disabilities, in particular persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities;

(d)To implement training programmes for healthcare providers on delivering inclusive sexual and reproductive health services for persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities, indicating whether such services reach adolescent girls through programmes such as the Noura framework;

(e)To ensure equitable and continuous access to healthcare services for persons with disabilities, particularly persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, indicating whether adapted services, trained personnel and mechanisms are in place to reduce physical, geographical and administrative barriers; and to shorten waiting times for access to healthcare and social security entitlements.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

25.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that habilitation and rehabilitation services:

(a)Are designed and operated to enable persons with disabilities to achieve and maintain maximum independence and realize their full social inclusion and participation in all aspects of life;

(b)Are accessible and affordable, are provided to persons with disabilities without discrimination and are consistent with the human rights model of disability and the Convention.

Work and employment (art. 27)

26.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To strengthen programmes aimed at increasing the employment rate of persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, in both the private and the public sectors, indicating how these efforts ensure the enforcement of the employment quota of 5 per cent for persons with disabilities set forth in article 22 of Act No. 10 (2018);

(b)To ensure access to employment for persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, and to end the ongoing segregation of workers with disabilities in sheltered workshops and fully incorporate them into the open labour market;

(c)To remove the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in recruitment and at work, and to combat discrimination against them, including due to failure to provide reasonable accommodation.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

27.Please indicate the measures taken:

(a)To mainstream disability into poverty reduction strategies, and ensure its intersectional implementation, particularly with regard to women, children and older persons with disabilities;

(b)To ensure that social protection and support services are provided to persons with disabilities, taking into account disability-related costs.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

28.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To guarantee the right of all persons with disabilities, including persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, to participate in political and public life;

(b)To ensure that voting places and materials are fully accessible and that measures to assist voters with disabilities respect the secrecy of the vote;

(c)To ensure the effective representation of persons with disabilities, in particular women with disabilities, in decision-making positions in the political and public spheres at the national and local levels;

(d)To guarantee the right of all persons with disabilities, including persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, to participate in political and public life, including the provisionof leadership courses and of financial support when they participate in campaigns for publicly elected positions.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

29.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To improve the accessibility of sports facilities, museums, protected cultural and natural sites and any other place that plays a role in cultural life;

(b)To implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

30.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State Party to systematize the collection, analysis and dissemination of data on the rights of persons with disabilities in order to improve the design of public policies.

International cooperation (art. 32)

31.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that all the State Party’s international development programmes and activities are inclusive and accessible to all persons with disabilities and take into account the linkages between the effective implementation of the Convention and that of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

32.Please provide information on:

(a)Coordination and collaboration between designated contact points at the national and local levels for the implementation of the Convention;

(b)The mandate and the human, financial and technical resources of the independent national councils, including the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, designated as an independent monitoring mechanism in accordance with article 33 (2) of the Convention;

(c)The measures taken to ensure the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in activities relating to the implementation of the Convention and the monitoring of such implementation.