Of the many NGOs represented in Egyptian civil society today, there are
a great number of mosque- or church-based ones that have developed from
traditional institutions. They provide social welfare and charity to the poor,
acting as social networks where the government fails to give support. A new
type of mostly foreign-funded professional NGOs that emerged generally act
as advocates of social and political change and concentrate on democratiza-
tion, the empowerment of women and human rights questions. They have
been particularly provoking to Hosni Mubarak’s administration, which in turn
accused them of dangerous foreign interference in the country’s affairs, of
misunderstanding gender issues and lacking consideration for the Egyptian
cultural context. The fact is that in the case of many of these NGOs their
priorities are set by international donors who have their own perspectives and
select the target communities. So women, landless peasants and other mar-
ginalized groups are encouraged to form interest groups, to practise self-help