It is a unitary and presidential republic whose president, as head of State and supreme commander of the country's armed forces, represents the executive power chosen in general elections for a period of six years. There is no constitutional limit regarding a president's number of consecutive mandates.
The Suez Canal is one of its main sources of income. In the first quarter of 2010, it contributed 380 million dollars to the national budget. Another source is the export of natural gas. Recognised reserves stand at 1,890 million cubic metres, which make Egypt the sixth world exporter of gas. Tourism employs 15% of the workforce.

From 25 January 2011, a series of events have caused a radical change in Egypt's political situation. Since then there have been demonstrations, strikes, the occupation of public spaces (especially in Tahrir Square, Cairo), elimination of symbols of power and confrontations with the forces of law and order. As in Tunisia, events precipitated due to abuse by the forces of order, to prevailing corruption and the persistent state of emergency enabling all kinds of violations of fundamental rights. Other triggering elements that must not be ignored are growing unemployment, particularly among young people, the increased cost of essential items, the lack of freedom of expression. The principle demand of the demonstrators was to renounce President Mubarak, in power since 14 October1981, the transition to democracy and for a more just distribution of the country's resources and wealth. The demonstrations in the public square brought together people from different socio-economic means and gave rise to the largest popular movement in Egypt's recent history.

On 28 January, while the demonstration was going on, challenging the curfew established by the government, President Mubarak gave a speech which was both threatening and disconnected from reality. Subsequently, a new government, led by Ahmed Chafik, ex commander-in-chief of aviation, was appointed. Omar Souleiman, head of the Egyptian intelligent service was appointed vice-president, a post which has been vacant since 1981. These appointments tended to perpetuate the dominant role of the army in Egyptian political life.
On 11 February 2011, President Hosni Mubarak finally submitted his resignation.

The transition process continues and simultaneously demands political change (the dissolution of the National Democratic Party-NDP which was in power, the fight against the corruption of the leaders, the establishment of transparent election processes, the trial of Mubarak and several of his relatives and ministers) and social demands (better salaries and working conditions, social protection, effective measures to combat poverty, unemployment, for a quality education for all, etc.).

In May 2011, the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest Islamic group, announced that it will not put forward a candidate for the presidential elections but hopes to win half of the seats in Parliament.

It is hoped that the liberalisation process currently underway leads to a real democratisation of the country, subjected to an authoritarian regime for many years in which power was predominantly in the hands of the army.

The Constitution recognises the independence of the judicial power, but the president may invoke the Emergency Law, which permits any case to be sent to the military or special courts. Judges are appointed for life by the President with the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council. In April 2011, Human Rights Watch reported that 28 civilians arrested in Tahrir Square in Cairo on 12 April 2011 were tried before a military court. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has tried over 5,000 civilians in military courts since February, including many arrested during the peaceful protests, which constitutes a violation of a fundamental right to a fair trial. At the same time, high officials from ex President Mubarak's Government are being tried before civil courts for charges of corruption and excessive use of excessive force against demonstrators.

Amnesty International has asked the Egyptian authorities to prosecute those who murderered protesters. Afterwards it was reported that ex-President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are being tried. The three, along with Hussein Salem, have been accused of the "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of January 2011"

The reports cite the existence of a significant number of political prisoners and the practice of torture by the police. Impunity is an additional problem. The UN Committee against Torture has indicated to the government on repeated occasions that it must put an end to the state of emergency and accept the visit from the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Torture.

The public perception of corruption in the executive and in the legislative is widespread. Transparency International , in the Corruption Perception Index 2010, puts Egypt in 98th place among 178 countries, with 3.1 points on a scale of 0 to 10.

Freedom of expression and of the press is formally guaranteed, but it is very limited in practice. Journalists and authors have been tried for slander and for expressing opinions about political and religious issues, which leads to the practice of self-censorship. Theatre plays and films are censured. Access to the Internet is controlled, and people who carry out activities on the Internet are detained. The government scrutinises the correspondence of militant politicians, journalists and writers. There are no laws regarding public access to government information.

When the authorities tried to block messages being sent out of the country during the protests, some Egyptians created new paths of communication using old technologies When the Government shut down access to the web, citizens began to use DSL telephone access, to share modems and assemble a network of independent connections that would enable them to avoid the official Egyptian networks. The fax machine has also proved to be a useful tool for distributing information inside and outside the country. Many people considered the fax to be out-dated technology, but it has shown its usefulness for those lacking more modern communication tools. And once the mobile telephone service was re-established, Egyptian citizens started to talk through the computer.

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and it is a common occurrence from Egypt to Europe. The IOM reports that irregular migration of unaccompanied minors from Egypt to Italy has reached worrying levels in recent years, constituting a new social phenomenon.

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children , asked Egypt to take measures to combat human trafficking, which includes a list of social ills ranging from child labour to sexual exploitation. In April 2010, the Rapporteur carried out a mission in the country and held conversations with Government officials and representatives from civil society. In her report, she identified in Egypt common forms of trafficking in persons that include sexual exploitation of underage girls through seasonal/temporary marriages, child labour, domestic servitude and prostitution". (...) "There is an increasing tendency towards economic and sexual exploitation of Egyptian girls (...) This type of marriage at times produces a smoke screen for the provision of sexual services to foreign men." Ngozi Ezeilo said that the problem is not well recognised or heeded and called upon Egypt to provide comprehensive training programmes to improve awareness of trafficking in persons and to confront the causes of trafficking: poverty, unemployment, scant education and gender discrimination.
The noted prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Egypt is low (between 2,900 and 13,000 people) but there is very limited access to information and very few effective or widespread provisions for people living with HIV/AIDS. In the majority of noted cases, transmission occurs through heterosexual relationships, 90% of Egyptian women living with the virus were infected by their partners. Girls and women are particularly vulnerable to HIV, since social norms in Egypt hinder access to information on sexuality.

People suspected of being homosexuals are detained under accusations of licentiousness, and reports cite the humiliation and abuse they suffer during their detention. The law does not explicitly class homosexuality as a crime, however, since 2000; certain laws have been used to impose the equivalent of a de facto prohibition of homosexuality. Egyptian law only recognises marriage between a man and a woman. Reports suggest that if a relationship between persons of the same sex became public, the police could use it as evidence in a criminal prosecution under different laws that combat Satanism, prostitution and public immorality.

Education is compulsory for 9 years, up to age 15. 98% of children are enrolled on compulsory education courses, and 30% take post-secondary education. Primary and secondary public schools are obliged to teach religion, and the schools teach it in accordance with the student's faith. Scant progress has been made to resolve the plight of street children and to offer them an education.

The public education system in Egypt consists of three levels: the basic education stage from age 4 to 14; kindergarten for two years, followed by primary school for six years and preparatory school for three years. Afterwards, the secondary stage is three years, for ages 15 to 17, followed by tertiary level. All levels of public education are free. According to the World Bank, there are huge differences in the education level of the richest and poorest sectors, known as the "wealth gap". Although the average school years completed are similar, the wealth gap brings the difference in practice to nine or ten years.

A 3-year programme begins at age 3. At this level, 48% of education is private. The net enrolment rate (NER) is 20%; 18,924 teachers work at this level (99% female). The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 24: 1.

Education is compulsory for ages 6 to 13. Primary education begins at age 6 and lasts for 5 years. 48% of primary education is private. 5% of students retake a course. 98.9% of students reach the last course of primary school. The NER is 93%. Women represent 54% of the 354,902 primary teachers. The PTR is 27: 1.

Secondary education begins at age 11 and lasts for 6 years. At this level, 16% of education is private. 22% of students in lower secondary education study in technical training programmes. The NER is 65%. 6% of students retake a course. In secondary school, there are a total of 485,186 teachers. 231,738 (45% female) work in lower secondary, while 253,448 (39% female) do so in upper secondary schools. The PTR is 20: 1 in lower secondary and 12: 1 in upper secondary education.

2,153,865 students study in tertiary institutions. At this level, 18% of education is private. The gross enrolment rate (GER) is 29%. 6,545 students study abroad, especially in the USA (1,822), Germany (1,192), France (849), the UK (799) and Saudi Arabia (370).

The law does not prohibit discrimination against persons with a physical or intellectual disability in education and other public services. Companies are obliged to reserve 5% of their positions for people with disabilities. NGOs calculate that at least 8% of the population suffers from some kind of disability and that 1%-2% suffers from a serious disability. According to the most recent reports, there are at least 6-8 million people with special needs in Egypt and only 4-5% of those people receive services. In January 2009, a report was drawn up about the need for teacher training in children's special education which the government of ex-president Mubarak did not follow up on. There are some special education services in the cities, but they are scarce in rural areas. The Supreme Council for Social Integration, created to resolve the problem of people with disabilities, has only met twice in the last thirty years.

The Constitution of 1971, Act No. 68 of 1968, Act No. 139 of 1981 and the Child Act No. 12 of 1996, confirmed children's right to an education and to provide opportunities for everyone, including people with special needs. However, to date there is no regulation or legislation to integrate children with special needs into mainstream education classes or even into classes attached to mainstream schools.

The law provides concession for refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to Refugees Status and its 1967 Protocol, but there is no national legislative framework on asylum. Refugees cannot get work permits. The UNHCR is involved with deciding refugee status. Once recognised as such, refugees receive identification cards which enable them to access services but not citizenship.

Since the rebellion against the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi broke out, a huge number of refugees are entering Egypt. According to data from the UNCHR and UNICEF , hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have fled fighting in western and eastern Libya, and many are trapped there in a kind of administrative limbo. On the Egyptian side of the border, buildings that used to be customs offices are now improvised accommodation centres. That is where dozens of women and children are now sleeping. Some of the people have been there for months. Egypt has been the object of fierce criticism due to the way the authorities are handling the refugee crisis. A recent report from Refugees International specifically criticises the country's current military governors. It highlights that the international organisations are trying to improve the buildings housing the refugees, but Egypt has been reluctant to allow the establishment of more permanent structures for fear that this may encourage the refugees to stay longer. Although the women and children may sleep in the former customs rooms, the men are obliged to sleep outside in improvised tents, exposed to the wind and the rain. The International Committee of the Red Cross allows those arriving at the border to make two-minute phone calls to their families. For many, this is the first time they are able to tell their loved ones that they are alive. The majority of foreigners arriving come from Misrata, Libya. They have been living in extremely harsh conditions for months, in a besieged city.

The population is fundamentally Sunni Muslim, with a considerable Shiite minority. There are also several Christian groups; the largest of them is the Coptic Christian group. Schools teach religion, and at the request of parents, they can also teach other creeds different to Islam, but this does not always occur in practice. At the start of 2011, extremist groups attacked a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria.

The Islamic Research Centre at the University of Al-Azhar recommends censuring books dealing with religious issues. Ministers may prohibit or confiscate books and other works of art. Leaflets and works from those criticising the state are confiscated. Deans are appointed by the government, instead of being chosen by teaching staff. Text books are censured, researching controversial subjects is prohibited and militant students suffer threats.

In Egypt, public universities have always been a security problem for ex-president Mubarak's regime. With 2.5 million students, the majority of them are concentrated in just 18 public universities with campuses the size of average cities. Students and professors are usually more politicised than the rest of the population.

It is hoped that the current process of transition to democracy ensures academic freedom in practice.

The law recognises gender equality, but traditional practice discriminates against women. The rules governing matrimony and personal rights depend on each person's religion. A Muslim woman may divorce without her husband's permission, but she must forgo all of her financial rights. The Orthodox Coptic Church only allows divorce in specific circumstances, such as in the case of adultery or conversion of one spouse to another religion. A Muslim woman inherits half the amount of a male heir; Christian widows of Muslims have no inheritance rights. A sole female heir receives some of her parents' estate, the balance going to male relatives. Sexual harassment is not prohibited by law. Abuse that takes place within the family is not debated publically, and the police and judicial power give integrity of the family priority over the well-being of the woman. The law does not specifically address honour crimes, and perpetrators receive a lesser sentence than those imposed in other murder cases. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a widespread problem despite attempts to eliminate this practice. 60% of girls aged 10-13 run the risk of suffering FGM. The increased rate of illiteracy prevents programmes educating women about the dangers of FGM. Prostitution and sexual tourism are illegal but they do exist.

Women still suffer discrimination, violence and sexual harassment. They suffer discrimination in the deprived neighbourhoods when they are allocated alternative housing during evictions. When the husband is absent, the local authorities demand that women provide proof of their civil status or face the possibility of being refused housing. In February 2010, in their final observations, the follow-up CEDAW Committee urged the Government to lift its reservations to articles 2 and 16 of the Convention, to the immediate revision of laws discriminating against women, and to strengthen the mechanisms for submitting legal complaints so that women have access to justice. The Committee also urged the Government to adopt a general law that would class all kinds of violence against women as a crime, including domestic violence, marital rape and crimes committed in the name of "honour". However, until now, no measures have been taken to apply these recommendations.

In June 2011, Amnesty International said that the Egyptian authorities must bring to justice those responsible for carrying out "forced virginity tests" on women demonstrators. A senior Egyptian official acknowledged that women detained on 9 March 2011 in Tahrir Square in Cairo were obliged to undergo "virginity tests", which the Government had previously denied. The official, who spoke anonymously, justified the abuse saying that the women "were not like your daughter or mine". These were young women who had been in tents with male demonstrators." Amnesty international gathered testimonies from women demonstrators forced to have the "virginity tests" and sent a message to the new government, the Supreme Council of Egypt, requesting an investigation into the actions of the armed forces. However, it has still not received any response.

Children who do non-agricultural work may work from age 14 or from when they finish their compulsory education. The province governors, with the consent of the Ministry of Education, may authorise temporary work for children aged 12 to 14, providing that the activities are not dangerous and that they don't interfere with their education. Children may not work more than 6 hours a day. The law is relatively respected in public companies, but its compliance is much more uncertain in the private sector and practically ignored in the informal sector. Minors who work suffer abuse and exploitation. Some 78% of children who work do so in the agricultural sector. They also work in light industry and in construction.

Egypt is a country of origin, transit and destination for women and child victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labour. It is estimated that around a million street children are used for prostitution and forced begging. There are local gangs who participate in this type of exploitation. Egyptian children are recruited for domestic and agricultural labour; some face conditions of real servitude, they suffer restrictions of movement, no salary, threats and physical or sexual abuse.

Egyptian children employed by cotton production cooperatives work long hours, usually suffer beatings at the hands of administrators and supervisors and are badly protected against pesticides and excessive heat. The temperatures in the cotton fields of the Nile Delta can reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Water is given at the discretion of the supervisors.

The right to form and join trade unions is severely restricted by law given that there is a single legally recognised national trade union board, the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), under which all trade unions must act. The ETUF traditionally maintained close links with the party in power and controlled the appointment procedures and election of the union management posts. The workers who are unionised outside the ETUF cannot just be sacked, but the Labour Code stipulates that an employer may legally sack a worker without having to give any reason.

There is not much room for collective bargaining in the private sector, and a collective agreement is only valid if it conforms to the Law on public order or general ethics - a vague notion that gives rise to abuse. Legal strikes are practically impossible. The law only permits a limited form of strike action in "non-strategic" installations, the list of which is determined by the Prime Minister and exceeds the definition of the ILO's essential services. Furthermore, all strikes must be approved by two-thirds of the ETUF Council and the trade union must specify in advance the expected duration of the strike.

On 14 February 2009, a teacher belonging to the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS) was arbitrarily transferred without any explanation. Mr Atef Mahmoud Mohammed Esmael, teacher at El Hibalat primary school, and one of the most active CTUWS members in the Qena governorate, was transferred to the Abu Shosha School, a three hour journey from his home. The decision was issued by the Director of Abu Tesht Educational Administration, and no specific reason was given. The headmaster of El Hibalat primary school refused to give Mr Esmael a copy of the decision and told him that he had to be transferred immediately. The headmaster and deputy headmaster prevented Mr Esmael from clocking in to work, while they were talking on the telephone to an unknown person describing in detail what was happening. It is not the first time that the CTUWS and its members have been targeted. The association, who's declared objective is to defend workers' rights, to improve their working conditions and to promote social dialogue and independent trade unionism, has denied its registration as an association. On 1 July 2009, security officers at Cairo airport detained Kamal Abbas, General Coordinator of the independent union, the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS), when he was about to travel to attend a ITUC meeting in Brussels. The authorities kept his passport for more than an hour before letting him catch the flight.

State of World Population 2010. "From conflicts and crises towards renewal: generations of change" UNFPA, November 2010, www.unfpa.org (Spanish)

"Military Trials usurp justice system", Human Rights Watch, April 2011, www.hrw.org

"Egypt must prosecute all those responsible for protest killings" May 2011, www.amnesty.org

Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, Transparency International, October 2010, www.transparency.org

International Organization for Migration-IOM, 25 May 2011, www.iom.int

Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Preliminary note of the Mission to Egypt, 11-21 April 2010, UN Human Rights Council, www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/visits.htm

www.unhcr.org

www.unicef.org

"In Egypt, Libyan refugees find tough condition" Refugees International, 29 April 2011, www.refintl.org

CEDAW is the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

"Egypt: Admission of forced "virginity tests" must lead to justice", June 2011, Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org

ITUC-CSI, Annual Survey on Violations of Trade Union Rights 2010, www.ituc-csi.org