By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 3 May 2013:
GNC Head Mohamed Magarief, Minister of Culture Habib Al-Amin, members of the . . .[restrict]GNC, members of the government, the Italian Ambassador in Tripoli as well as a raft of VIPs are expected to attend the launch of the Libya Initiative – Al-Mubadara Libya tomorrow, Saturday, starting at 9.30 at the Radisson-Mahary Tripoli.
The 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, on her first visit to Libya, will make the keynote speech ‘Conflict transformation and social healing: the role of women’, followed by remarks from international experts Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish and Harvard University professor Donna Hicks.
From 2-4 May, all three experts have been leading training and experience-sharing workshops in Benghazi, Gharyan and Tripoli. Discussions on the topics of Social Healing and Social Justice during the Saturday morning session will also provide an opportunity to showcase multimedia works created by some of the 30 Libyan youth who recently participated in the Libya Initiative’s first multimedia and story-telling training program. Joining them will be Libyan regional representatives, young people, women’s organizations and families of martyrs and the disappeared.
The Libya Initiative – Al-Mubadara Libya is an action plan implemented by the Italian NGO Ara Pacis in partnership with the Libyan NGO Al Mubadara Libya Assalam to promote social healing and a political culture of social justice, forgiveness and reconciliation in Libya.
This process is to be done through a nation-wide effort focused on the listening, remembering, weaving and sharing of personal and collective narratives over two years.
“The two-year plan aims to contribute to the process of consolidation of democracy and stability in Libya through the enactment of initiatives aimed at overcoming divisions, restoring dignity, acknowledging the burdens of history, fostering dialogue and, in general, opening new paths for societal healing, forgiveness, justice and reconciliation”, says President of Ara Pacis Initiative Maria Nicoletta Gaida.
The Libya Initiative-Al-Mubadara Libya is supported by GNC Head Mohamed Magarief, the Ministries of Culture, Interior, Local Government, Martyrs and Missing, Media, Oil, Social Affairs, Tourism, Youth and Sports and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Initiative is also sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Libya, the Turkish Embassy in Libya, the Local Councils of Tripoli, Benghazi and Ghiryan
Special event: Libyan victims of rape speak out in public
In a special afternoon session (4-6 pm), and under the patronage of President Magarief, a special event will take place organized by the Observatory on Gender in Times of Crises and Ara Pacis Initiative entitled: Uncovering the Truth – Transitional Justice in Changing Arab Countries: Rape in the Hands of the Tyrant-Weapon of War/Weapon of Suppression of an Entire People.
This will include Fawzia Barion, General Directorate for the Libyan UNESCO committee, Leymah Gbowee, winner of the Nobel Peace prize, Dr Ayman Al-Sayyad, Editor in Chief, of Weghat Nazar Journal and former senior advisor to the first elected Egyptian President, Judge Omar Marwan, Assistant to the Egyptian Minister of Justice and the Secretary General of the Fact-Finding Committee of the 25 January revolution. Mr Idris Almismary Head of the Libyan Press Support Authority, will moderate.
In a closed second session (5-6pm) – Libyan victims of rape will give their testimonies in public
(Media is invited but taping or filming of any kind is forbidden). This session will include Annick Cojean, author of the book “The Prey: In the Harem of Ghedaffi”, followed by testimonies from Libyan victims of rape. Joining them will be Ms Bahiya Kanoun, Al Mubadara Libya Asslam, Ms Noha Anhass Danish institute for dialogue and Ms Rita Isaac, documentary film maker from Palestine. Maria Nicoletta Gaida, President of the Ara Pacis initiative, will moderate.
For further information see:
www.thelibyainitiative.org – twitter.com/LibyaInitiative – www.facebook.com/TheLibyaInitiative
Contact details:
Bahiya Kanoun Tel: 218 913472817 – [email protected]
Saad al Badri Tel: 218 92-5560469 – [email protected]
Maria Nicoletta Gaida Tel: 218 91 646 6534
Observatory on gender in crisis: [email protected] Tel: 0927535621 [/restrict]
