The Lebanese Organisation for Studies and Development (LOST) launched a project entitled “Step by Step towards municipal elections” during a public event organized yesterday in Baalbek with the participation of the Dutch Ambassador, Hester Somsen. The project aims at training 300 women from 14 villages in Baalbek on municipal work to allow them to participate effectively in the next municipal elections of 2016.
Rami Laqis, the president of LOST, noted that the project is a component of a series of projects which address 4 subjects, namely a) strengthening the culture of participation in society; b) income generation; c) building civil peace; and d) strengthening basic humanitarian services and legal support/ Dutch Ambassador Somsen noted that the project will help promote the role of women in political participation and in changing their poor representation in politics as it will strengthen the role of 300 women in Baalbak-Hermel on the local political scene. She also noted the poor representation of women in local and national politics which does not exceed 2%.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 29 May 2014