Yes She Can: LOST Educates Women About Their Rights and Opportunities in Public Life, Empowers Them Politically

 As a second stage in the Women’s Political Empowerment (WPE) project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lebanon, LOST commenced the program with training sessions on the topics of Human Rights and Women’s Rights in six sub-regions in Lebanon including Baalbeck, Akkar, Ain, Beit Shema, Hermel and Ersal, thereby embarking on a five-month long mission to empower women in the marginalized communities of Lebanon politically and ushering in a brighter and more democratic society for them and their country.

Scheduled for two sessions per week with each session lasting approximately two hours, WPE includes a theoretical component and a practical one. The former covers several topics on civics including citizenship, human rights and women’s rights, advocacy and civic participation, and also information technology, social media and English language. The latter involves participants in a community project allowing them to partake in the policy-making process in their respective communities under the guidance of LOST.

In the Baalbeck branch of LOST, twenty six women are attending the training sessions; close to 50% of them joined WPE after graduating from the Women’s Economic Empowerment Project also run by LOST. In a partnership with Jusur organization LOST is managing WPE in Ersal while in Akkar LOST has partnered with the municipality of Tall-Abbass to manage it. Jusur and the municipality provide logistical and human capital support for LOST who in turn is providing leadership, expertise and funding for the implementation of WPE therein.

WPE aims at improving the lives of women in the marginalized communities of Lebanon by empowering women politically so they are active participants in the policy-making process of their communities and country. Also, it aims at strengthening the institution of women’s leadership in public life by educating women about their rights and opportunities in the public domain, involving them in projects which allow them to influence the policy-making process in their community, and offering them guidance on their endeavors in public life at any point in the future.
WPE is funded by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands via its diplomatic representation in the capital city of Lebanon Beirut and is scheduled to last until April of 2012.