These women are students, employees and teachers. They are Libyan and they are forging a path to freedom in a country fractured by war. They decided not to flee, but to band together to campaign for women’s rights, for equal citizenship with men.
Paying no heed to a reluctant patriarchy and braving all obstacles, these women are working within organisations to strengthen the role of women in civil society, something still in its infancy in Libya, and to redefine boundaries.
Thanks to the EU4PSL project, financed by the European Union and initiated by Expertise France, they are able to gain training in developing skills for Libyan civil society. This project aims to support the role of young people and women in the Libyan economy and empower women via entrepreneurship support.
Ibtissam Al Qusbi
Ibtissam comes from the city of Zawia. She is 40 years old and has 4 children and a degree in Computer Science. This graduate became part of civil society in 2011 after becoming a member of the “17th of February” group for women’s and children’s rights. This voluntary commitment meant she would be interrogated several times by Gaddafi’s militia forces in March 2011. However, she turned away from this group very quickly after understanding that it relegated women to a mere secondary role. At the same time, Ibtissam felt threatened by the outbreak of armed hostilities in the country and so left, temporarily relocating to Tunisia.
In 2016, she founded the organisation “Journey to peace and development” in Tunisia. Her objective is to provide Libyan women with essential skills to fully take up their role in bringing about peace and development. “The Libyan women who started by rescuing and caring for war orphans are today eager for training and to start dedicating themselves to other civil activities such as the fight for equality”, she emphasizes. She cites the campaign “We start with 30” as an example, which aims to guarantee at least a 30% female representation on municipal councils and in management positions in other government institutions. For her, the biggest hindrance to the journey of women is a lack of confidence in their potential. Women are still wrongly seen as incapable of creating, directing or deciding. Ibtissem criticises this idea that women only exist to play a secondary role. But Ibtissem is optimistic about the future, “Mentality has started to change, albeit in a small way, thanks to the efforts of tenacious women. You can even see it in politics now where women are leading several advocacy campaigns”... more
(euneighbours.eu)
