Cairo, Egypt 04 November 2014 - United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN WOMEN) facilitated a meeting on “Libyan Women’s Demands for the Constitution”. The meeting held on 01-04 November 2014 in Cairo, Egypt, brought together over 60 women participants from all regions of Libya representing civil society and members of the House of Representatives (HoR), as well as members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) acting as observers to the meeting.

The meeting, taking place as the CDA is preparing a draft constitution for Libya, has contributed to the overall process of women’s participation in constitution-making in the country. Over four days, participants held open discussions, with regional legal experts who provided technical assistance during the debates. The participants had the opportunity to develop their knowledge on core issues and themes of the constitution-making process and international good practices. During the discussions, the participants evoked important questions regarding the constitution-making process. In a participatory and consensual way, participants formulated a draft list of demands, which will be further developed by civil society in Libya and submitted to the Constitution Drafting Assembly.

The agreed draft set of demands corresponds to the future Libyan Constitution's structure pertaining to the following themes: Form of the State and Fundamental Components; Form and System of Government; Judiciary Power; Constitutional Court; Rights and Freedoms; Local Governance; Army and Police; Financial System; Natural Resources; Transitional Procedures; Independent Constitutional Bodies; General and Final Provisions (State of Emergency and Martial Law). The draft demands address both questions specific to women as well as more general constitutional issues.

On the last day of the meeting, the participants jointly formulated an advocacy strategy for the inclusion of the demands in the future Libyan Constitution. The strategy focused on a two-pillar approach: lobbying directly with the CDA and gathering further support for the demands among civil society and the public.

This meeting has been organized within the framework of the overall assistance provided by UNSMIL, UNDP and UNWOMEN to enhance women’s political participation in Libya in general and the constitution-making process in particular.

For further information:

Magda Elsanousi, Chief of Women’s Empowerment Section UNSMIL, Email: elsanousim@un.org

Adam Styp-Rekowski, UNDP Project Manager Assistance to Building a Constitution, Email: adam.styp-rekowski@undp.org

Sally El Mahdy, Senior Political Participation Advisor, UN WOMEN, sally.elmahdy@unwomen.org

Mohammed Salih, Communications Specialist, UNDP Libya, email: mohammed.salih@undp.org

Samir Ghattas, Chief Public Information and Communication, a.i., UNSMIL, ghattass@un.org