The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) expresses its deep sorrow and condolences to the families of 18 girls who died in a horrific accident on their way to work in vineyards in Sadat City. It affirms its full solidarity with the families of the victims and with women and girls agricultural workers across Egypt.

This tragic incident occurred a few weeks after Egypt’sPresident ratified the new Unified Labour law, which for the first time included agricultural workers under the umbrella of legal protection, but without real procedures or mechanisms. Following repeated calls from civil society organizations, labour rights experts, women's rights organizations, and international bodies to meet Egypt's international obligations by extending legal protection to all forms of work – although female domestic workers are still excluded – the new law included agricultural workers, but without any safeguards or mechanisms that match their working conditions, deepening the discrimination and legal exclusion of women workers who are among the most vulnerable and marginalized in the country.

According to press reports, the victims – most aged between 14 and 20 – worked for a daily wage between 120 and 130 Egyptian pounds (USD 2.4-2.6), which is below the legal minimum wage, according to the hourly work rate. Their microbus was carrying 22 people, beyond its legal capacity of 15 passengers, on a gruelling journey of nearly 60 kilometres, each way, from their village to Sadat City.

This accident is not an exception, but rather part of a paternof neglect of the working conditions of women and girls daily workers, especially in the sectors of agriculture and related simple industries such as packaging, where women and girls are transported in ramshackle and overcrowded vehicles, without insurance, control, or responsibility from employers or concerned bodies. Each time, the official narrative blames the driver of the vehicle, the Ministry of Solidarity announces financial compensation to the families of the victims – without comprehensive accountability – and the relevant national councils, such as the National Council for Women, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, and the National Council for Human Rights, remain silent, without even condemning the unsafe working conditions or unsafe mass transportation of these girls and women

EIPR warns that the state continues to disregard the rights of women agricultural workers, including their right to a safe working environment, decent, adequate transportation, fair wages, and legal protection mechanisms tailored to the nature of their work. EIPR affirms that this systematic, persistent neglect is a clear violation of Egypt’s obligations under international conventions, foremost of which the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and international labour conventions that call for comprehensive protection for women workers in the informal economy.

Therefore, EIPR puts forward the following demands:

1. Launching an urgent and transparent investigation into the working and transport conditions that led to the death of these women and girls, and determining the responsibility of employers for the means and conditions of transport, in addition to investigating the working conditions and wages of the victims during their lifetime.

2. Ensuring governmental and parliamentary accountability regarding the continued exclusion of female agricultural workers from practical legal protection, and holding accountable those who fail to provide real oversight over the work and transport environment in this sector, especially in this incident.

3. Reviewing the new Unified Labour Law in general, as it undermines the rights of workers, and providing protection mechanisms that include all forms of work in line with Egypt's international obligations.

4. Conducting a parliamentary investigation into the quality of road infrastructure in rural areas, especially in the area where the accident occurred and other areas that often witness similar accidents.

Continuing to ignore the conditions of working women, especially in agriculture and related industries, and stopping at empty responses in the aftermath of each tragedy, will only lead to more victims. Women agricultural workers have fundamental rights, which legislators and executive bodies have failed to fulfill. This tragedy must be a new alarm until the labour law is reviewed and the incident is thoroughly investigated.