By Callum Paton.
Tripoli, 8 March 2014:
Delegates from the French NGO Réseau Euromed France took time off to tour Leptis Magna yesterday . . .[restrict]with representatives from the Libyan Women’s Union ahead of a series of workshops and discussions today.
The visit is the second exchange in a project which saw the Libyan Women’s Union head to Paris in November 2012. Réseau Euromed France members include some 37 French trades unions, cultural organisations, human rights bodies and other entities interested in human rights and equality throughout the Mediterranean area.
Educational experts from Marseilles, Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Brittany took part in today’s tour which allowed them the opportunity to learn more about Libya, as well as take in the cultural and historical sights.
Project Manager for Réseau Euromed Marion Isvi told the Libya Herald that the organisation had become in involved in Libya in May 2012 following an EU summit on civil society. She said it was not the NGO’s goal to give any particular advice but to help independent organisations from across the Mediterranean to exchange ideas.
“We think civil society is very important to growing democracy, and all that that entails, effective lobbying and advocacy,” she said. “One of the reasons Libya is so important to us as an organisation is that civil society groups really did not exist here before. It is interesting for us to work with them. It’s a win win situation.”
The President of the Women’s Union in Tripoli, Samira Massoudi, said that discussions today in Tripoli would show that the Women’s Union was not limited to women’s issues and, as such, the talks would revolve around the role of youth in society.
She explained that the previous visit to Paris had been very useful in providing the Women’s Union with a platform, particularly during their campaign for a women’s quota in the Constitutional Assembly. She added that she hoped this exchange could be equally beneficial.
The visit to Leptis Magna was organised by the Ministry of Tourism. [/restrict]
