Young Women Participation - Egypt SUMMARY 
Girls/young women in Egypt are largely excluded from political processes that influence their future. The project raises awareness among young women about their rights, protects them against violence, builds capacity, raises political awareness among youth and promotes their participation in decision making processes. The project targets 1.800 girls and boys (<18) and young women and men (18-25), and 26 youth groups. It will be implemented by Plan and 8 youth-led/women-led community development associations in Beheira, Cairo, Qalyoubiya and Qena Governorates. Youth will be trained to become agents for social change and enable meaningful participation in their communities. Local Child Development Associates and youth groups will become more accountable and act as democratic spaces that facilitate participation of youth and promote gender equality. This will lead to greater interest in issues concerning women in both traditional and social media. The 2 year project started end of 2018. Women in Egypt face many barriers regarding their political empowerment, including their ability to develop themselves as leaders within their community. Barriers to girl’s and women’s empowerment are observed across several dimensions  including social norms and customs, low quality education, early marriage, low economic participation and weak civil society organizations/networks. Ggovernment representatives are directed by their cultural backgrounds that reinforce disempowerment of women, in addition to gaps between policy commitments and the policy implementation.  Women in Egypt have enjoyed political support that resulted in positive results in terms of issuing legislations protecting women’s rights (e.g. criminalization of FGM, increase of legal age of marriage, sexual harassment law, ratification of CEDAW), however, law enforcement continues to be a challenge.
Young peoples’ – and particularly girls’ and women’s – participation in policy and budget decisions is critical to ensure that states take their interests into account legally and economically. The voices of girls and women in particular should be heard because it is their right, but also to ensure that decisions are fair and contribute to greater social justice.
This action also contributes to the objectives of the 2030 National Women’s Empowerment Strategy promoting the political empowerment and leadership of women in Egypt.  According to the strategy, this is to be done through increased political participation of women, and engagement of women in the decision-making process. Women in Egypt have enjoyed political support that resulted in positive results in terms of issuing legislations protecting women’s rights (e.g. criminalization of FGM, increase of legal age of marriage, sexual harassment law, ratification of CEDAW), however, law enforcement continues to be a challenge.
The overall objective is to contribute to a more conducive environment for the engagement of youth, particularly young women(14-25) in the local and national decision-making processes.
To achieve this girls, boys and youth have to embrace gender equality and gain capacity to challenge unequal power relations. Adolescent girls and boys will become active drivers of change in the community using COC methodology  promoting gender equality and social norm change through youth engagement and peer-to-peer mobilization. Girls' empowerment and boys' engagement with gender equality will only flourish in communities that challenge sexist social norms and value girls equally than boys. COC works to foster intergenerational dialogues to ensure boys, girls and youth's commitment to gender equality is supported by their families and their communities. The youth groups have the capacity to advocate for their needs, with special attention to the needs of young women, and for increased engagement in the CDA decision-making processes and can hold duty bearers including CDAs to account. Media workers gain awareness on gender equality and have capacity to represent issues affecting youth, girls and young women in particular. 
In order to enable meaningful participation of youth, the project is also targeting community members and government stakeholders. Through the O2P project implemented activities on the combat of FGM/C with ACDA in Assiut governorate and EFPA in Giza governorate, in 4 communities last 5 years. The project utilized a multi-layered approach with communities, human rights defenders (civil society organizations and individual human rights defenders) and governmental bodies as duty bearers for building consensus and encouraging behavioral change.
The project has successfully enhanced the communities’ environment to enable a change in attitude and behaviour towards FGM/C, and supported  the peer educators to  actively participate in the community and advocate for  women and girls their rights especially FGM/C topic. 
Follow up will be given in part of these communities, while also new communities are included for this project. The approach will be broader and based upon success and achievements in the former approach. R1: Girls, boys and youth embrace gender equality and gain capacity to challenge unequal power relations
-Train community facilitators (peers) on COC curricula. PIE will facilitate TOT to 32 facilitators and 16 CDA’s staff
-Establishment of COC clubs (classrooms) in 8 partner CDAs
-Train 72 groups of adolescent girls and boys in Champions of Change curricula
award 40 initiatives: 8 at Governorate level and 32 at community level
R2: Families and communities support young people (particularly girls) in developing their capacity to participate in and influence decision-making in the family and community
-participatory mapping to identify community leaders, local authority figures, networks, forums that can support women’s empowerment
-Raise awareness and initiate discussions on gender equality and women’s empowerment among local stakeholders identified as influencers/leaders
-Facilitate intergenerational dialogue among girls and boys, parents and care-takers on women’s exclusion and gender-inequality
R2.1: Youth groups have the capacity to advocate for their needs, with special attention to the needs of young women, and for increased engagement in the CDA decision-making processes
Provide training to youth groups on leadership, social accountability, Influencing and advocacy
R 2.2: Youth groups, particularly young women, develop capacity to hold duty bearers and including CDAs to account
-Build capacity of local officials on social accountability tools and mechanisms to foster youth engagement (specially women) in the decision-making process
-Facilitate coordination meeting between youth groups (existing and COC’s), partner CDAs and Youth Centers and Governorate offices to promote youth engagement (specially women) in decision-making process
-Facilitation of round tables at Governorate level by CDAs to work with the local authorities and youth groups on the development of joint action plans and a clear path to strengthen youth participation
- Implement one round table Individual capacities of youth (through COC) are strengthened and youth groups will be provided with tools and equipment to maintain communication with COC alumni and among other youth groups and hold CDAs and local authorities accountable.
The capacitated youth/women-led partner CDAs can internalize project management and skills on social accountability and gender equality. CDAs will be encouraged to seek alternative sources of revenue.
The action will build the capacity and awareness of government officials on social accountability, youth and gender issues, which is expected to result in better inclusion of youth (especially women) into their plans of action/initiatives through the Youth Centers.
Although the action is not related to environmental issues, PIE will also support initiatives proposed from youth as result of the project focusing in, for instance, job generation in “green and clean” sectors. This will depend in what youth identify as relevant for their communities.