NCHR’s social rights committee concludes field mission to North Sinai

Coinciding with the anniversary of Sinai Liberation and the national day of North Sinai Governorate, the Social Rights Committee of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) concluded its two-day field mission to the Governorate on 22–23 April 2025. The mission was conducted with the participation of Dr. Noha Talaat, Secretary of the Social Rights Committee, and Committee members Dr. Walaa Gad El-Karim and Dr. Mohamed Mamdouh.

The field mission primarily aimed to raise awareness about the mandate of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) as an independent national human rights institution fully compliant with the Paris Principles. In this context, the visit also sought to monitor the realization of the right to health in North Sinai Governorate, in accordance with Egypt’s constitutional obligations and relevant international standards. Particular attention was given to assessing the preparedness for the implementation of the Universal Health Insurance System. The mission included the participation of Dr. Anwar Ismail, Assistant Minister of Health, and involved comprehensive meetings with Major General Khaled Magawer, Governor of North Sinai; Dr. Hassan El-Demerdash, President of Arish University; senior officials from the local healthcare sector and the Faculty of Medicine; as well as representatives of tribal leaders and civil society organizations.

As part of its mission, the NCHR delegation conducted field visits to several central hospitals, including Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Bir El-Abd hospitals, to evaluate the readiness of medical facilities, identify infrastructural needs, review the availability of medical equipment, and assess procedures for ensuring the presence of qualified healthcare personnel essential to the effective implementation of the Universal Health Insurance System.

In full compliance with the Paris Principles, the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) reaffirms its commitment, as an independent national human rights institution accredited with "A" status, to actively promoting and protecting human rights and fostering a culture of human rights across all sectors of society. NCHR is dedicated to exercising its mandate in a comprehensive manner, which includes monitoring practices within both the public and private sectors, identifying shortcomings as well as good practices, and providing independent, specific recommendations to the relevant authorities. The NCHR also underscores its inherent right to unrestricted and direct access to all public facilities, official documents, and information, recognizing this as a fundamental safeguard to the effectiveness of its work.

The delegation observed the ongoing efforts by the health sector and the Governorate, supported by the Ministry of Health and Population, to address the challenges of providing medical assistance to Palestinian casualties affected by the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. It also reviewed the procedures undertaken to strengthen the medical infrastructure and ensure that North Sinai is fully integrated into the Universal Health Insurance System.

The NCHR delegation emphasized the need to address challenges related to the shortage of medical personnel, recommending the strategic utilization of Arish University's Faculty of Medicine and the private university in the region to strengthen the human resource base essential for the success of the health insurance system. The Council also underscored the importance of integrating private healthcare facilities and health initiatives led by civil society organizations into the system, encouraging their compliance with accreditation requirements to enable their participation in the health insurance framework.

Furthermore, the Council stressed the importance of adopting targeted financial plans to ensure the completion of development works in hospitals designated to be part of the required network of facilities operating under the Universal Health Insurance System.

The NCHR will prepare a detailed report of the visit’s findings and share it with the relevant authorities in the near future, in line with its mandate to independently monitor, promote, and protect human rights in

Egypt.