Study On The Egypt’s NGOs In The Era Of Mubarak

NGOs, in the contemporary sense of the word, began to emerge in Egypt in19thcentury because of Mohamed Ali’s modernization project. Despite twists and turns,NGOs of Egypt gradually developed from the British occupation, constitutionalismEra, Nasser era till Sadat era. Meanwhile, NGOs in Egypt changed to some extent incertain social context. Egypt’s NGOs were flourishing during the era of Mubarak. Agreat deal of NGOs which included religious charities, secular social welfareorganization, community development associations and advocacy groups carried outvarious activities. This phenomenon demonstrated the diversification of egyptians’needs in different fields such as economy, culture and politics in Egypt society.The policies of the Mubarak government were dual. On one hand, in some extent,the government encouraged the development of Egypt’s NGOs for the followingreasons. Firstly, in Egypt, NGOs could provide various social services, thus filling thegaps of governmental functions. Secondly, the international community especially thewestern countries paid close attention to Egypt’s NGOs. Consequently, allowing thegrowth of NGOs enabled Egypt to present an image aboard of being a relativelyliberal regime. On the other hand, the Egyptian government strictly restricted NGOsthrough legal and administrative means for certain reasons. Under Mubarak’sauthoritarian regime, the power of the state was highly centralized in the hands of theauthority. The government must maintain its authority on NGOs affairs in case theestablished state order would be destroyed by powerful NGOs and other social forces.Though tightly controlled by the government, NGOs in Mubarak era keptoperating actively. They made positive effects on Egyptian society. For example, theycontributed to the economy, raised the level of public services, promoted thedemocratization process and protected the benefits of the ethnic minorities whoserepresentative was the Copts. Egypt’s NGOs were related to the Egyptian revolutionof2011. Egyptian didn’t own dignity, fairness or justice for a long time underMubarak’s authoritarian regime. However, the activities of human rights organizations,youth NGOs and other NGOs could help people in Egypt raising awarenesses of their own rights and strengthening conscious of change. In addition, Egypt’s NGOs alsoexchanged and spread information through online media to ensure that the protestwould go smoothly.This thesis draw some conclusions as follows. Firstly, Egypt’s NGOs play a rolefrom the era of Mubarak to the post-Mubarak era. Therefore, people can investigateEgyptian social conditions on the basis of the activities of Egypt’s NGOs. Secondly,in the Mubarak era and the post-Mubarak era, the development of Egypt’s NGOs haveto go through many trials result from external environment and inherentvulnerabilities.