The Danish-Lebanese cross-political network is calling for female university students of Lebanon to participate in a 1-day conference that aims at tackling various fields of female participation in political life.
We aim at having a majority of participants who are not members of political parties, but those who are members are also welcome to register.
Participation is free, but registration is necessary:http://youngfempart.eventbrite.com/
Among the speakers and workshop facilitators are:- Dr. Fadia Kiwan - Director of Institue of Political Sciences at Saint Joseph University in Lebanon- Mr. Ziad Abdel Samad - Executive Director at Arab NGO Network for Development- Ms. Samantha Smoot - Representative of the National Democratic Institute in Lebanon- MP Ghassan Moukhaiber - Change and Reform Bloc - Human rights parliamentary committe- Ms. Vera Yammine
- Member of the Political Bureau in El Marada and Head of Media Bureau... and more to be confirmed!
During the day there will be a number of panel discussions, speeches and workshops. These will shed light on the barriers that exist, but we aim to have an constructive focus on how to overcome these barriers and improve the situation.
Program:09.30-10.00: Registration
10.00-11.00: Panel Discussion 1 - "The Importance of Enhancing Woman's Role in Political Parties"
11.00-13.00: Workshops:
1) The role of women in political parties to promote women's rights.
2) The role of women in running for municipal elections.
3) The role of women in fighting corruption.
4) The role of women in electoral reform.
13.00-14.30: Lunch
14.30 - 15.30: Panel Discussion 2 - "Women Participation in the Lebanese Parliament"
15.30 - 16.00: Results and Recommendations
Background for the conference:There exist an ambiguity between the fact that Lebanon is a relatively open and democratic country in the region but yet lags behind in terms of women rights and representation. Not only are women underrepresented in political life, with one of the lowest rates of women's political engagement in the region, but also female participation within the structure of political parties is limited.
We want to further the understanding of these barriers, but most importantly we want to facilitate the development of ideas on how to overcome these.Many recommendations for ways to break the barriers of female political participation already exist. One of which is that the political parties themselves could play a huge role in involving more women. This is why we as Lebanese and Danish youth parties are standing together to promote the importance of young women in politics.
The conference will take place on the 26th of January at:
USJ - Humanities Campus - Theatre BeryteDamascus RoadBeirut, BeyrouthLebanon
For more information, don't hesitate to send an email to:Rebecca El Hosry: [email protected] Shamma: [email protected]