Public Participation: Case studies on Egypt’s Right to Information Draft Law and National Plan

Public Participation is emphasized as a genuine and inseparable human right in multiple international conventions, such as the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, public participation should not only be perceived as a human right, but also as a precondition and a necessity for all-inclusive, informed and sustainable development.

This discussion paper sheds light over two examples of public participation processes that were carried out in Egypt post to the 25th of January Revolution. It points out the strengths and weaknesses in two community dialogues, which were carried out over the Right to Information (RTI) Draft Law and social justice in the National Plan, in an attempt to explore the lessons learnt and offer relevant policy recommendations for public participation attempts in the future.

About the author

Yasmin Khodary is an expert in governance assessments and public participation processesand a formerGovernance and anti-corruption Program Manager in the UNDP Social Contract Center in Cairo. She has two Ph.d. degrees, one in Development Studies from the American University of London and one in International Relations from Cairo University. Aspart of the DanishInstitute for Human Rights'programme for visiting scholars from the Middle East and North Africa​,Yasmin visited the Danish Institute for Human Rights in the fall of2014, where she wrote this brief.