Espousing the interests of the inhabitants of E’zbet Haggana, an informal settlement of several hundreds of thousands close to Cairo International Airport, Al-Shehab has disseminated a rights-based and democratic conception of development as it has engaged the residents. , it is unique among civil society organizations in the area in that it does not carry a religious label and is equally open to Muslims and Copts, as it is to men and women, boys and girls, Egyptians and Sudanese refugees, vigourously asserting their equal dignity and legitimate claim to consideration of their family members, peers and authorities, and indeed of their own selves