Seventy women are set to participate in 2016's municipal elections thanks to a project that aimed to empower women to engage in civil society.
At a closing ceremony to mark the end of the "Women in Municipalities" project, the organization Women In Front celebrated the venture which, with the help of funding via the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), worked with women to prepare them to run as mayor and break the male domination in local government.
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk addressed the crowd with a speech in which he underlined the importance of the project in promoting the role and presence of women in politics and public affairs.
The influx of Syrian refugees due to the neighboring crisis, he explained, has proven the municipalities’ key role on a social, humanitarian and service level.
Machnouk also highlighted the fact that he had proposed the appointment of three women as directors general in his ministry, namely in the Personal Status Directorate, the Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees and the Traffic Management Authority.
Attended by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale, former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud and former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, the ceremony was followed by two closed discussion panels.
Baroud, who is also a prominent lawyer and civil society activist, hosted the first panel along with the head of Cyber-Crime Office at the Internal Security Forces, Maj. Suzan El Hajj.
The second panel was guest hosted by Najjar alongside Nada Zaarour, president of the Green Party in Lebanon, who debated the restrictions and fears that prevent women from pursuing decision-making positions in political parties in Lebanon.
The 12-month project had identified 300 women from all walks of Lebanon, from which 70 were provided with extensive professional training.
The training touched on the topics of municipal work, law, budget, leadership skills, electoral campaigns, media visibility and public speaking.
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