In the framework of raising awareness of the importance of UN Special Procedures on women's issues, Dr. Reham Salama, Executive Director of the Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE), participated in a dialogue session organized by the Faculty of Law at the British University in Egypt. In collaboration with the Human Rights Research and Training Center, the BUE held this closed seminar entitled "UN Human Rights Special Procedures: Impact and Challenges - A Case Study on Violence against Women."
In her remarks, Dr. Reham Salama addressed the role of Islam in preserving women's rights, emphasizing that religion is part of the solution to the problem, not the problem itself, as some claim. She pointed out that some people selectively quote and interpret religious texts, while Islam as a whole offers a solution to all the challenges women may face.
The session also featured Ms. Reem Al-Salem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, who highlighted violence against women as a model of a global issue that requires concerted international and national efforts to address. In addition to an open dialogue with representatives of relevant national bodies, the session aimed to exchange views on how to support and develop special procedures.
The seminar focused on the pivotal role of the UN special procedures in monitoring states' human rights commitments, with an emphasis on the challenges facing special rapporteurs in light of increasing political and field pressures. At the end of the session, attendees made recommendations on the importance of developing future research initiatives in partnership with the national and international institutions concerned with this issue.