Ashraf AboArafe
Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, met on Saturday, September 21, with Mr. Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR), on the sidelines of his participation in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) in New York.
During the meeting, Minister Dr. Abdel Aati stressed Egypt’s continued support for the mandate of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its keenness to enhance dialogue and cooperation with Mr. Türk and the Commission, in order to benefit from its available expertise in supporting national efforts to promote human rights in accordance with Egypt’s national priorities, including through the implementation of technical cooperation programs. His Excellency also expressed his aspiration to expand the capacity-building programs provided to Egypt, including to support the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs added that Egypt affirms its continued efforts to improve the human rights situation in its comprehensive concept, including by continuing to implement the National Strategy for Human Rights, which was prepared as a purely national initiative to improve the general climate for rights and freedoms, noting that he delivered to the President of the Republic the report on the implementation of the National Strategy in its second year, which reflected the extent of progress achieved in implementing the strategy’s objectives.
The Minister, Dr. Abdel Aati, also reviewed the resumption of the national dialogue rounds in which all segments of society participate with their various orientations, in addition to reactivating the Presidential Pardon Committee, as well as launching initiatives to enhance economic, social and cultural rights and enshrine the rights of various groups in society, to enhance the principle of citizenship, combat discrimination and protect religious freedoms, in addition to amending national legislation that aims to enhance the right to justice and guarantees of fair trials, including preparing a new draft of the Criminal Procedure Code. His Excellency also stressed Egypt’s keenness to fulfill its treaty obligations under the international human rights agreements to which it is a party. 
The meeting touched on regional developments, most notably the war in Gaza, where the Minister, Dr. Abdel-Ati expressed his appreciation for the High Commissioner’s continued efforts to highlight the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the violations committed against civilians due to the Israeli aggression, stressing the importance of continuing to pressure Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement, stop targeting civilians and civilian facilities, allow urgent humanitarian aid to reach the Strip’s residents, and remove all obstacles preventing the entry of urgent relief aid. His Excellency also stressed the importance of communicating with major Western countries that are committed to defending human rights to pressure Israel to respect the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
