Libya has been facing serious political and social challenges for almost a decade, with close to 400,000 Libyans being displaced since the start of the conflict that followed the 2011 uprising.
In Libya today, women continue to bear the greatest impacts of the conflict and the country’s ongoing instability. They are being killed, kidnapped, and exposed to gender-based violence, among other dire challenges. Moreover, the experiences and perspectives of Libyan women are not recognised by the local or international community, and their involvement in formal peace processes is severely limited.
Working with our partners in Libya, WILPF aims to strengthen Libyan women’s participation in decision-making and peace-building processes by encouraging engagement with the grassroots feminist movement, supporting advocacy efforts, and bringing the recommendations of Libyan women to national and international fora. Our joint aim is to redesign the peace table, as the only solution to ensure women’s meaningful participation in the peace process.
WILPF partners with Together We Build It (TWBI), a non-profit Libyan organisation founded and launched in 2011, to empower women and youth to participate in the political and public spheres and support the peaceful democratic transition in Libya. WILPF supports TWBI’s efforts to advocate with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and UN member states to redesign the peace table and ensure women’s meaningful participation in the peace process.
Additionally, WILPF partners with Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL), a Libyan and international independent non-governmental organisation, on a project aimed at supporting Libyan women-led civil society organisations (CSOs) in addressing discrimination and violence against women and girls.
In this very special episode of Political Is Personal, which was recorded in New York on the sidelines of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Woman, inspirational women from Libya, Syria, and Yemen discuss the idea of the peace table — What does it mean? Who is currently sitting on it? And how to imagine a better version of that outdated table?
Peace and human rights activist and co-founder of TWBI, Hajer Sharief, provides invaluable insights into the current dynamics, challenges, and opportunities within the Libyan peace table. She also emphasises the importance of ensuring meaningful citizen participation and representation in decision-making processes.
With a goal to raise awareness about the exclusion of Libyan women from the political arena, Together We Build It launched “You are missing the full picture” campaign in 2018.
The campaign highlights the international community’s gender-blind approach to Libyan women’s right to meaningfully participate in the political and peace building process.
Following the success of this initiative, another campaign called Complete the Picture was launched in 2019. Complete the Picture satirised politicians photographed since the Libyan peace talks in groups that excluded women.
“Voices from Libya,” a remarkable initiative by TWBI, serves as a vital platform for Libyan women experts across diverse fields to provide their insightful analysis of the current situation in Libya through a feminist lens.
Through thought-provoking articles, “Voices from Libya” delves into critical topics that need to be addressed on a community level, such as the regional and tribal quota system effects; young people’s role in the peace building process in Libya; the political participation of Libyan women in the South; Libyan women in the economic sector; COVID-19 policies; enforced disappearances; and many others.
Explore these important voices shedding light on crucial issues facing Libyan society today
WILPF and Together We Build It (TWBI) have developed an advocacy strategy towards an inclusive peace process in Libya. In September 2017, TWBI wrote a letter addressed to the UN Special Envoy to Libya demanding Libyan women’s meaningful participation and inclusion in the peace process.
The letter was followed by a series of discussions between TWBI and the office of the Special Envoy, which eventually led to TWBI’s briefing the Security Council on the situation in Libya in early 2018.
WILPF worked to complement and amplify these efforts by submitting a written statement to the Human Rights Council on the impact of conflict and instability on Libyan women. We also organised TWBI’s mission to the United Nations in New York City in September 2019, to advocate for stopping the flow of arms to Libya and the design of an inclusive peace process.
Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.
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Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.
Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.
Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.
In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region.
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WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.
Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.
Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.
WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.
In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.
In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.