IBTİSAM IGHFİR

Libya / Benghazi - Dr. Aisha Al-Barghathi, director of Women Affairs at the General Command of the Libyan Army, and the General Coordinator of  the Empowerment of Libyan Women say "our demanding is high", in a statement to our agency about the first coordination meeting between the Central Committee for Municipal Elections of the Libyan government and the Civil Society Commission

 Aisha Al-Barghathi, emphasizes that she will not only support and empower women to participate in the municipal elections, but also support and empower women even in the general elections. She also says that women should constitute at least a "critical minority" of 40% or 45% to be more effective.

 Talking about the meeting about women’s participation in elections, she says, "The meeting was very important and fruitful, and it is a coordination meeting between the Central Elections Committee and the Civil Society Commission with the participation of a large group of active women and female leaders in society".

 The meeting was held on Saturday, January 9 in Benghazi city and many women joined it such as  a Fawzia Al-Barasi, a member of the Central Committee for Municipalities Elections,  Mabrouka Al_Tamer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commission and Counselor, Dr. Ibtisam Bahih, a member of the Constituent  for Drafting the Constitution, Radia Al-Mathbel, a member of the Steering Council in the Benghazi municipal, Dr. Aisha Al-Barghathi, the Coordinator-General to empower Libyan women, and many female leaders of feminist civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and journalists.

"The meeting was very important to support women’s participation in the elections, so both women and men must support women, and we focus on women’s roles in municipalities, ministries, parliament, and decision-making, and all international levels," says Aisha Al-Barghathi.

 Aisha Al-Barghathi indicates that there will be successive meetings, dialogues, seminars, and discussions to raise women’s awareness about the importance of their participation in the elections and there will also be training courses, and there will be a committee formed by the Central Elections Committee which will start its work in the eastern, southern, and central regions.

She talks about the coordination role and says, "The coordination committee will have a great role in this stage, we demand the largest possible number of women’s participation to have a strong representation. We also get in touch with neighboring countries such as the League of Arab States, the African Union, and the European Union, in order to empower women in all international, regional and local levels".

 Talking about changing the citizens’ view about the electoral process, Aisha Al-Barghathi says," The citizens’ view will change, we will launch awareness and education campaigns for people in general, and women in particular, so women must be strong in Political participation and make decisions. Now women have a great and strong role, because we demand the coordination to support their role, as we have contacted a number of state institutions, including ministries and assembly and we will empower women and support them in all sports, cultural, political and social aspects and we do not forget the academic and diplomatic aspects of the coordination.”

 Dr. Aisha Al-Barghathi thanks all the participants in the meeting looking for creating a great base to run for the upcoming elections, and she also thanks to the Women’s News Agency (NUJINHA) for their interest in these issues.