About Us

Voices for a Democratic Egypt (VDE), a new Washington based group, was founded with the aim of promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Egypt.  The organization started as a response to the growing repression of civil society activists in Egypt, and later evolved into an effort to address the underlying issues giving rise to the harassment of those calling for much needed democratic reform and respect for human rights.  Our organization consists of a diverse group of concerned citizens—Egyptians and otherwise—with varying political persuasions, united by a desire to see a democratic Egypt that respects human rights and is guided by the rule of law.

Though we are a relatively new organization, we have already been tremendously active and have gained respect in the Washington community, having engaged in advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and with the American Administration promoting enlightened and effective policy on democratization in Egypt. We have participated in the drafting of legislation, facilitated dialogue between activists working on the ground and policymakers, and started a very successful newsletter entitled “This Week in Egypt” that is distributed to key Middle East scholars, policymakers, and activists in Washington and beyond.  This publication covers democracy and human rights related developments from the perspective of the Egyptian independent media on a weekly basis since August 2008.  VDE also publishes reports on the state of human rights and political reform in Egypt that are submitted to policymakers.

Our mission is to support initiatives and voices – wherever they may be – that call for the following in Egypt:

• restoration and primary of rule of law;
• respect for human rights including the freedom of expression and religion;
• protection of civil and political liberties;
• freedom of the media;
• limitations on the power of the executive by an independent Egyptian judiciary and an empowered legislative branch;
• elections for public office that are free, fair, and contested openly in an environment of political pluralism.