Libyan Female Parliamentarians Conference Starts in Tunis Today

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10 Nov 2016

Libyan Female Parliamentarians Conference Starts in Tunis Today

Tunis, 10 November 2016 – Female members of the Libyan House of Representative (HoR) kicked-off a three-day conference under the theme ‘Together We Can, Together We Work, Together We Advance For Peace’. The conference aims at promoting the role of female parliamentarians and enhancing their capacities to play a leading role in promoting reconciliation and realizing social peace and stability in Libya. To maximize learning, the conference organizers invited female Parliamentarians from Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan and Niger to share experiences and best practices.

“Planning for this conference was an initiative by female members of the Libyan HoR. They identified the objectives and expected outcomes of the conference.  The agenda reflects their interest in gaining more knowledge in order to create highly competent women leaders and carry out their role to their fullest potential”, stressed Mrs. Magda El Sanousi, Director of the Women Empowerment Section in the United Nations Support Mission in Libya during her opening remarks.

The themes chosen by the women parliamentarians include the general principles of legislative rules, regulations and procedures; legislative drafting methodologies and criteria; maintaining the integrity of legislation to consolidate human rights and state building; and forming alliances and women blocks in parliaments. 

Delivering the HoR female members speech at the opening, MP Naima Delf stressed that “we have to work together, through this conference, as male and female parliamentarians to activate women blocks in the parliament and to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions reaching fifty-fifty representation by 2030.”
“In any society, women are a driving force and we salute all the attendants and give special thanks to the members of HOR  from Libya for their ambition and courage as they pursue positive change in in the country during this transitional phase,” said Noura Hamladji, Libya Country Director and Acting Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme. 

Libyan women participated in all stages of the political transition through voting and candidature since the revolution in 2011. Women gained 16% of the seats in the election law of 2014, where 31 women were elected to the HoR out of the total number of 200 members. Despite the challenges, female HoR members were able to build strong networks with different women and social organizations, which contributed to the support and awareness raising regarding women issues.

Promoting the role of women and engaging them in decision-making processes is vital to the United Nations, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1325, which stresses the important role of women in the democratic process and political participation.

About the Conference:
This conference was held with the support of the governments of Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, under “Amel” Project to support Libyan women in the transitional period. A drafting committee was selected by female HoR members to draft the outputs and recommendations of the conference. The committee consists of the following members: Ms. Rahma Abu Bakr Ali Adam, Mr. Mohamed Emdour and Mr. Ibrahim Al Darsi, in addition to representatives from neighboring countries, Ms. Ebarka Al Ibrahimi, Ms. Bushra Haj Hmeida from the Tunisian Parliament, and Mrs. Hafiza Ben Shahida from the Algerian Parliament.