By Reem Tombokti.
Tripoli, 1 May 2013:
A new centre, which hopes to get more Libyan women involved in democracy and politics, has . . .[restrict]opened in Tripoli’s Ben Ashur district.
Established by the Libyan Women Forum, “The Centre of Excellence to Mainstream Women in Democratisation Process,” aims to empower Libyan women to participate more within the democratic processes of the new Libya, the founders say. The project has been funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) and the Canadian embassy in Tripoli.
“A trial week’s training for 26 Libyan women will first take place,” one of the organisers told the Libya Herald, adding: “The official training, however, will start in June”.
In her opening speech, founding director of the Libyan Women Forum Shahrazad Magrabi said that the forum aspires to see Libyan women occupy important positions in democratic Libya. Magrabi also thanked the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) and the Canadian embassy in Tripoli.
“We thank the Canadian embassy for its support for our programme,” she said, “without it the training would have taken place in the street”.
The Canadian ambassador Michael Grant told the Libya Herald that the embassy decided to support the centre after being impressed by its plans. The Canadian embassy has a modest programme for supporting civil society organisations and empowering the role of Libyan women in society, Grant added.
One of the trainers participating in the programme, Afaf Al Jabri, said she was delighted to be part of this initiative which, she hopes, will be advantageous for Libyan women.
The Libyan Women Forum was established in November 2011. Since then the organisation has worked on several campaigns encouraging Libyan women to participate in political life. [/restrict]
