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African Women Rights Advocates Interview Georgia Brooks

Q: Can you tell us more about your organization, Fempower Initiative, and what inspired you to create this movement?

A: I set up Fempower Initiative in 2017, having long desired to do something to help women in the Middle East, especially Egypt. Prior to setting up the Fempower Initiative, I worked in research and policy for human rights NGOs in Brussels, and before that lived and worked as a legal editor in London. Both were interesting careers, but I really wanted to “save the world.” Friends call me naively optimistic, but I believe that all of us can make the world a better place, even in small ways.

Growing up between the UK and Canada, I enjoyed much more relative freedom and opportunity, so I decided to use the platform I had, the contacts I had made, the money I had saved, and do something worthwhile with it. And in my eyes, there is nothing more worthwhile than providing healthcare and education, so these became the key areas that the Fempower Initiative focuses on.

Q: How important is it that women and girls mobilize today, especially in a post-COVID world?

A: Girls are at the heart of our communities; they are our future leaders, our mothers; what we do now will impact our entire world. COVID is undoubtedly a turning point in history, and we have to ensure that the direction we take is a positive one. The pandemic has shown how deep pre-existing inequalities lie, and it has been well documented[1]that the impact of the pandemic has been worse for women.

I often use the example of my stepdaughters in Brussels; all in their teens, all in school. While they continued with online classes throughout the lockdown and are now awaiting to return to school, there are countless girls that dropped out of education completely; many to work, many to get married. The Malala Fund estimated[2] that, due to the ripple effects of the pandemic, 20 million girls will remain out of school, possibly forever.

Q: Would you shed light on your work and operations in the Middle East, specifically Egypt?

A: The Fempower Initiative supports a number of education and health projects in Egypt and Lebanon. In Egypt, we work with an excellent NGO called EACD; Egyptian Association for Comprehensive Development. EACD has been active in Egypt since 1995, and aims to help disadvantaged groups throughout the country, namely women, children, and youth living in rural and urban slum areas. It focuses on education, health, economic development and the environment.

Together, EACD and I decided to focus on healthcare. In 2018 we set up a health clinic in the area of El Marg in Cairo, providing much-needed equipment and staff. Women come here for pre- and post-natal care, as well as cancer screenings, so it can be literally a matter of life and death.

Q: What kind of future do you envision for girls and women in Egypt?

A: I believe we are living through a period of transition. I’m sure all generations say that, but 2020 alone has been such an upheaval. What I hope for, and what I see happening, is that girls and women no longer blindly accept the status quo. There’s a hunger for acceptance, equality, justice. They ask more questions and question their world.

For example, one 17-year-old girl, who had dropped out of school as a child and was taking informal education classes run by a local NGO, told me that she wanted to study so she could “work as a teacher [herself].” Another young girl – aged 14 – told me that the classes helped her understand that domestic violence was not okay, and gave her the courage to tell her father to stop hitting her.

I realise I haven’t said much about men in this situation, and that’s wrong because I know a lot of men who are feminists and are also keen to see greater equality in Egypt. I am hopeful that as girls and woman ask to be regarded and treated as equal, that boys and men will understand it is society as a whole that will benefit. Feminism is not anti-men. Empowering women does not mean depriving men.

Q: In your opinion, what’s lacking when it comes to health and education for women in girls in Africa? What about Egypt?

A: For me, it all comes down to access. Girls and women lack access to information. Knowledge is king – or should I say queen– and yet so much is unknown or unavailable. Of course, for Egypt and much of Africa this is further compounded by cultural traditions and beliefs. So many subjects are inappropriate or taboo, and girls grow up not knowing any different, or better. I have met women in their 20s that didn’t know about basic hygiene. I have met girls barely 15-years-old who are being pressured to marry.

Another key factor is of course funding. In my work with EACD I discovered that international grants of healthcare projects have decreased dramatically in Egypt in the last ten years, because Egypt is regarded as having one of the “best” healthcare systems in Africa. What this system fails to address thought is the large numbers of people on the margins, without fixed address or living in the slums, thus “unknown” to the administration and with no mind or material to even access healthcare.

Q: Have you worked with women on a grassroots level in Egypt? If so, what issues are they facing? How can they be addressed?

A: We all want to be safe, to be healthy, to be happy – both for ourselves and our families. Ultimately, we all want the best from life. Sadly, for many of the young women I have met, this is not the case. A large proportion are victims of domestic abuse, and many internalise the abuse as being their fault or even justified because they are women. This is also true of FGM, which has been illegal since 2008 but is still prevalent throughout the country. It is so hard and frustrating to hear about these abuses, and worse when the women reject our offers of help. In those instances, I feel helpless.

Thus, addressing issues of education, healthcare, violence against women has to come from every level and member of society, and repeatedly. We can never see enough women in power, or female doctors, or male feminists, because until we understand that this is normal, that this is acceptable, that this is desirable, we will never progress. Civilisations evolve and change, and that’s okay, it’s normal in fact; that’s how we survive. These are no moments but movements; we will move to where we need to be. For the women of Egypt, I know they want to be in a place of equality, and I will continue doing whatever I can to help that happen.

Georgia Brooks

The Author

Georgia Brooks is the Founder & Managing Director of The Fempower Initiative, which works with NGOs on the ground in Egypt and Lebanon providing healthcare and education for girls and women. Covid may have cut her travel short, but she’s still continuing her projects in both Cairo and Beirut.