120 Women Call For Their Rights: Yes We Can

The moment of truth finally was attended by the participants of the Women Political Empowerment (WPE) project when 120 women from Baalbeck-Hermel and Akkar decided to call for their rights in an artistic and more visual way that reflects the openness and transparency of their call.

Women in Chmestar drew a mural where they wrote articles related to women rights and they demanded the protection of women against all kinds of violence since “violence in Lebanon remains without any legal protection” as one participant said.

In Nabi Othman village, women drew a mural which called for political participation and equality among sexes; these principles and values were fostered by WPE workshops that lasted for six months.

The third mural was in
Hermel where women there chose to send direct messages through their graphics; the mural revealed the importance of women in building an integrated and more democratic society. The participants wrote: “Human rights are inseparable between men and women” and “rights are not exclusive to men”.

As for Baalbeck,

women issued a bulletin in which they wrote their views and ambitions. They expressed their wishes to participate actively in all Lebanese national fields particularly the political ones.

The active participants in the village of Akkar created an extraordinary painting of mosaic that showed the symbolic call for equality between men and women, and this piece was placed at the auditorium in the head office of Tal-Abbas El Gharbi municipality. On this occasion, a ceremony was held there in the presence of Mr. Khalil Fares, the Mayor of the town and several social activists and educational figures.

Mr. Fares thanked LOST and the Embassy of Netherlands for their valuable projects and activities.
WPE was funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Beirut; it comprised the training of more than 120 women from Akkar, Baalbeck, Hermel, Orsal and Beit shema on civic participation, citizenship and women’s rights, also on using social media tools to address local and domestic causes.