Women take the lead

Self-confidence, political qualifications and professional skills to assume active leadership roles in society – that is what the Syrian and Lebanese women have taken home from our leadership programme. The participants were women with a high potential to contribute to positive change in their country. Through our workshops, they gained new knowledge and tools that help them to play that leadership role even more effectively.

Elbarlament initially developed the training curriculum especially for Syrian women currently living in Lebanon as refugees. The civil rights of these women are infringed due to their refugee status; they have no political representation; they are not included in international peace processes or transitional justice initiatives, and they face discrimination under Syrian and Lebanese law. In January 2020, we included Lebanese women alongside Syrian women in the leadership training with a view to building trust and mutual understanding as well as facilitating networking and joint actions by the trainees.

Through the project, the women acquired knowledge of political processes as well as skills in political mediation and conflict management, and they got the know-how that they need to contribute effectively to rule of law and transitional justice processes. Our project participants worked with civil society organisations and businesses for the reconstruction of Syria and the development of functioning and democratic public administrations in Lebanon, while raising awareness in their communities about the importance of women’s rights in both countries and the wider region.

Together with our partners, Women Now for Development, elbarlament developed a manual documenting the experiences, achievements and the challenges the two organisations faced within the framework of working with women leaders and activists online due to the pandemic. You can view the manual both in Arabic and English.