Waging Peace:  Egypt

Mediating Conflict

The Camp David Accords of 1978 were a major achievement of the Carter administration. President Carter has continued his deep interest in Middle East peace since leaving the White House, and Carter Center staff have closely followed events in the region since the Center's founding in 1982.

In November 1983, the first Middle East Consultation was held at The Carter Center, co-chaired by former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

In March 1987, President Carter traveled throughout the Middle East, meeting with heads of state. On the basis of this trip, The Carter Center hosted in 1987 an unprecedented Middle East Consultation attended by representatives from Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and the Palestinian communit as well as officials from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

In March 1990, President and Mrs. Carter returned to the region, meeting with heads of state and leading political figures in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank to discuss the Middle East peace process.

Since then, as part of the Carter Center's ongoing efforts to support peace, democracy, and human rights in the Middle East, President Carter has led multiple missions to the region, including visits to Egypt and meetings with Egyptian officials in neighboring countries.  These consultations reflect President Carter's sustained commitment to securing a comprehensive peace in the region.

Finally, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Camp David Accords in 2003, U.S., Israeli, and Egyptian negotiators from the Camp David meetings met with President Carter in Washington, D.C. The leaders discussed lessons learned for peacemaking and how they can be applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today.

Monitoring Elections

2011-2012 Elections

People's Assembly Elections
The Center supports the right of all Egyptians to freely elect their representatives in a peaceful and tolerant environment.

The Carter Center arrived in Egypt in May 2011 to conduct an international election witnessing mission for Egypt's People's Assembly (lower house) elections. The Center was accredited by the Supreme Judicial Commission for Elections (SJCE) in November 2011 and deployed 40 witnesses from 24 countries to all of Egypt's 27 governorates.  Across the three phases of voting from November 2011-January 2012, these witnesses assessed and observed the administrative preparations, campaigning, voting and counting, and complaints processes.  Carter Center witnesses met with government officials, political parties and candidates, and religious leaders as well as representatives of civil society, academia, and media. Read full text >