The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is an independent Egyptian human rights organization that was established in 2002 to promote and defend the personal rights and freedoms of individuals.
Vision
The EIPR was established to complement the work of Egyptian human rights groups by adopting as its mandate, and focus of concern, a group of rights and freedoms that are closest to the human-being: his/her body, privacy and house. These rights often are ignored or overlooked. We believe that the crucial importance of public and political rights must be grounded in an understanding of the indispensability of full protection for personal rights. EIPR activists share a notion that the individual is not reducible to a mere component of the community or the State. Therefore, responsibilities and duties that result from the individual's belonging to his/her community and State should affirm, not destroy, the individual's capacity to make choices and maintain independence as a free entity. Each member of society deserves respect for her or his personal dignity and integrity. Thus, we aim to explore the line between private and public in the lives of individual members of community and society, while realizing the interrelation and interdependence of these two spheres. We also attempt to promote a debate about the State's legitimate powers and the areas it should not invade while undertaking its legitimate responsibilities to protect people from abuse.
Programs
Right to Health
The EIPR considers the enjoyment of the right to health to be a prerequisite for the enjoyment of other bodily rights. This program promotes and defends people's right to access to health services, treatment and essential medicines and freedom from discrimination based on health status. Other subjects of concern include HIV/AIDS and human rights, the interrelation between health and violence, and reproductive health issues in Egypt.
Freedom of Religion and Belief
The EIPR works to promote and defend the right to freedom of religion and belief in Egypt through research and monitoring, strategic legal interventions and advocacy campaigns. The program is currently addressing three interrelated issues: laws, policies and practices that directly or indirectly discriminate on the ground of religion or belief ; violations by security agencies and prosecutions based on religion or belief; and the response by the state and society to incidents of sectarian tension and violence in Egypt. The program's flagship Quarterly Reports document and update developments related to freedom of religion and belief in Egypt every three months.
Right to Privacy
This program covers a group of rights that are related to the private lives of individuals, including their rights to secrecy of communications and correspondence, to freedom of religion and belief, to protection of reputation, and to adequate housing; in addition to sexual and reproductive rights of women and men.
Violence and Bodily Integrity
This program focuses on the protection of the individual's body from all forms of assault. The program pays special attention to fighting physical and sexual violence in the family, especially against women and children, as well as the eradication of widespread corporal punishment of school children. The program attempts to develop a rights-based approach that outlines the responsibility of the State towards eradicating sexual violence by non-State actors.