The National Council for Women and UNFPA inaugurated on Tuesday a Safe Women's Clinic; a medical response clinic at the Qasr al-Ainy Hospital offering comprehensive services for women subjected to violence, with the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The inauguration brought together Maya Morsy, President of the National Council for Women, Muhammad Othman Elkhosht, President of Cairo University, Hala Salah El-Din, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Germaine Haddad, Assistant Representative at UNFPA Egypt. 

To prepare the clinic, training workshops were held for medical staff on offering response services to women subjected to violence, as well as the national referral process for all existing medical, legal and social services available. 

In her address, Morsy highlighted the importance of integrating women’s needs into the medical sector, adding that the National Council for Women signed six protocols with Cairo, Ain Shams, Assiut, Mansoura, Minya and Benha universities to establish medical response units on campus to deal with reported cases of violence against women.

On her part, Haddad explained that medical service providers are among the first responders to victims of violence, and who offer a safe and comfortable space for victims to disclose the violence she was subjected to.

The National Council for Women officially adopted the referral pathway in November 2019 marking the establishment of the first national process to develop and ensure the quality and efficiency of services for women and girls subjected to violence.

The first of its kind, the referral pathway was developed under the Essential Services Package (ESP) joint-program in Egypt, coordinated by UNFPA. The ESP modules were adapted to national context and endorsed by relevant ministries and key UN agencies (UNDP, UNODC, WHO and UN Women), to coordinate between relevant stakeholders on GBV protection, prevention and care in the legal, social and medical sectors.

This comes as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, as UNFPA continues to work to end violence against women through its partnership with the National Council for Women.