Cairo  - When Umm Yussef fell off an overcrowded public bus in Cairo last year, she broke an arm and a leg. But she was more worried about how she would feed her three children and her husband.

Her husband has been unemployed for years, and her family depends on the income she earns cleaning houses every day.

"All this hard work and we can barely afford to live. Sometimes I think of quitting work to rest," she told the German Press Agency dpa.

"But I want my children to continue their education. I want them, especially my young daughter, to have a better life than mine."

But a study published earlier this week by the general secretariat of the Egyptian cabinet has lauded the "remarkable gains" by Egyptian woman in recent years.

It cited the appointment of three female cabinet ministers, the appointment of 18 women to the 264-member Shura Council, Egypt's upper house of parliament, and the appointment of more than 30 female judges.

The study likewise referred to the appointment of the first female maazuna, a religious notary with the authority to register marriages and divorces.

"It sounds like a good thing that all these women are taking these good positions," Umm Yussef said. "But if this does not help me in my daily life, then I really do not care."

Vivian Fouad, of Egypt's National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, hailed the increased representation in the halls of government.

"It is a common mistake for people to assess the status of women according to the number of women in leadership positions, rather than the position of poor and middle-class women," she told dpa.

"It is not quantity but quality. If we had a 100 female MPs, for example, and they were not active, it would mean nothing for the daily lives of women," she said.

Fouad, whose work brings her in contact with women from poor villages and urban slums, said she believed efforts to improve the status of women should begin there.

Egyptian women's rights activist Reem Leila likewise urged a more bottom-up approach.

"Women's rights activists have been working to empower women through constitutional and legal measures," she told dpa. "We must work on changing the culture that gives a man a power over a woman."

In May, a government poll found that 84 per cent of Egyptians - men and women - believed women should not work outside the home, a four per cent increase from 2006.

Perhaps most strikingly, 79 per cent of Egyptian women surveyed also believed women should not work outside the home.

Fouad said these results did not surprise her.

"Just turn on the TV," she said. "You can see Egyptian men talking about their right to get married, to cheat on their wives - and at the same time they expect the woman to do everything for the husband."

To counter such attitudes, Fouad suggested public-awareness campaigns targeting men and women in a non-confrontational manner.

"Both genders should be taught the culture of humanity, justice and the right to self-expression," she said.

Yomna Hassan, a 39-year-old executive at an international pharmaceutical company in Cairo, agreed.

"It is only fair and fitting to have female leaders in our country," she told dpa. "For decades, women have had a strong presence in Egyptian labour, whether formally or informally. This should be reflected at the official level.

"But the appointment of female leaders should not be symbolic only. They should pay special attention to their fellow women, who are often marginalized," she said.

"This should be easy for them," she concluded. "After all, they are already standing in the same shoes." (dpa)