Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace launches a Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights
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After a series of workshops and consultations on the constitution, held beginning in 2013, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP) launches a Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights. The LWPP has been working on building consensus about the constitution’s most controversial issues, such as the role of sharia and international conventions in the constitution, as well as charting women’s priorities and rights.
In November 2014, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace organized a roundtable of Libyan experts to discuss women’s rights in the constitution, as framed by Sharia versus the international conventions. The workshop convened a number of female civil society leaders, youth activists, judges, legal experts, academics, religious leaders from the League of Libyan Ulama and Al-Azhar, and the Head of the Civil Rights Committee in the Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA). A basic theme in the workshop was the possibility of reconciliation between Sharia and international conventions achieved by creating platforms of mutual understanding and common terminology between human rights and women’s rights activists and religious leaders. The workshop covered the theoretical Islamic issues, while also addressing Libyan legal and social contexts. The meeting concluded with the presentation of a set of recommendations constitutionalizing women’s rights in the Libyan Constitution, the bulk of which were adopted to form the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights.
The workshop was followed by another consultation meeting on the 14th of January where the LWPP again convened civil society activists and legal experts with the Head of the Civil Rights Committee in the CDA. Participants engaged in a critical (rights approach-based) reading of the draft constitution. Dr. Al-Badri commented, “What has come out is not a draft. It’s rather a compilation of proposals by the committee of the CDA.” He also highlighted that the committees’ proposals or chapters are conflicting. Thus declaring, "There is no homogeneity in this draft of the constitution." Meanwhile, the LWPP continued convening consultations with a diversity of female civil activists and lawyers from a wide spectrum of ideological and cultural backgrounds on the draft of the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights.
Outlining the importance of the charter, Zahra’ Langhi, Co-founder and Director of the LWPP said, “The Charter was inspired by the principles of equality and dignity rooted in Islamic Sharia, along with universal principles of human rights. Most importantly it is a charter drafted by local voices. It’s a charter by Libyan women for Libyan women.”
The Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights covers women’s civil rights, rights to peace and security, and their social, cultural, economic, and political rights. It addresses the rights of all women, without discrimination base don culture, race, or social status. The Charter addresses the rights of women with special emphasis on peace and security. It thus addresses the rights of survivors of rape, prisoners and detainees, displaced persons, and refugees.
Shahrazad Kablan, an education and media consultant and a member of the drafting team of the charter, explained the importance of the charter. “The constitution is the framework by which we ensure and protect justice, the common good, the general welfare and posterity for all men and women.”
Hanan Dakhil Ghosheh, a freelance writer and activist who also participated in drafting the charter said, “To me, the constitution represents a watershed opportunity to push the “reset” button surrounding the debate on Libyan women’s rights and our struggle for equality and social justice. It will either catapult us forward—so we may join the rest of the modern world—or set us back at least another generation or two”.
A link to the full version of the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights is available here.
To watch a short film on LWPP’s campaign Together We Will Write Our Constitution, please click here.
For more information on the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace, please visit the LWPP's website and www.el-karama.org.
After a series of workshops and consultations on the constitution, held beginning in 2013, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP) launches a Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights. The LWPP has been working on building consensus about the constitution’s most controversial issues, such as the role of sharia and international conventions in the constitution, as well as charting women’s priorities and rights.
In November 2014, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace organized a roundtable of Libyan experts to discuss women’s rights in the constitution, as framed by Sharia versus the international conventions. The workshop convened a number of female civil society leaders, youth activists, judges, legal experts, academics, religious leaders from the League of Libyan Ulama and Al-Azhar, and the Head of the Civil Rights Committee in the Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA). A basic theme in the workshop was the possibility of reconciliation between Sharia and international conventions achieved by creating platforms of mutual understanding and common terminology between human rights and women’s rights activists and religious leaders. The workshop covered the theoretical Islamic issues, while also addressing Libyan legal and social contexts. The meeting concluded with the presentation of a set of recommendations constitutionalizing women’s rights in the Libyan Constitution, the bulk of which were adopted to form the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights.
The workshop was followed by another consultation meeting on the 14th of January where the LWPP again convened civil society activists and legal experts with the Head of the Civil Rights Committee in the CDA. Participants engaged in a critical (rights approach-based) reading of the draft constitution. Dr. Al-Badri commented, “What has come out is not a draft. It’s rather a compilation of proposals by the committee of the CDA.” He also highlighted that the committees’ proposals or chapters are conflicting. Thus declaring, "There is no homogeneity in this draft of the constitution." Meanwhile, the LWPP continued convening consultations with a diversity of female civil activists and lawyers from a wide spectrum of ideological and cultural backgrounds on the draft of the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights.
Outlining the importance of the charter, Zahra’ Langhi, Co-founder and Director of the LWPP said, “The Charter was inspired by the principles of equality and dignity rooted in Islamic Sharia, along with universal principles of human rights. Most importantly it is a charter drafted by local voices. It’s a charter by Libyan women for Libyan women.”
The Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights covers women’s civil rights, rights to peace and security, and their social, cultural, economic, and political rights. It addresses the rights of all women, without discrimination base don culture, race, or social status. The Charter addresses the rights of women with special emphasis on peace and security. It thus addresses the rights of survivors of rape, prisoners and detainees, displaced persons, and refugees.
Shahrazad Kablan, an education and media consultant and a member of the drafting team of the charter, explained the importance of the charter. “The constitution is the framework by which we ensure and protect justice, the common good, the general welfare and posterity for all men and women.”
Hanan Dakhil Ghosheh, a freelance writer and activist who also participated in drafting the charter said, “To me, the constitution represents a watershed opportunity to push the “reset” button surrounding the debate on Libyan women’s rights and our struggle for equality and social justice. It will either catapult us forward—so we may join the rest of the modern world—or set us back at least another generation or two”.
A link to the full version of the Charter of Libyan Women’s Constitutional Rights is available here.
To watch a short film on LWPP’s campaign Together We Will Write Our Constitution, please click here.
For more information on the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace, please visit the LWPP's website and www.el-karama.org.