Date: Feb 1, 2019
Source: The Daily Star
Memorandum to increase women's political participation signed
BEIRUT: The National Commission for Lebanese Women Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the British Council aiming to increase women’s political participation in Lebanon.

NCLW President Claudine Aoun Roukoz signed the memorandum with the council’s director in Lebanon, David Knox, at NCLW’s headquarters in Hazmieh. The signing took place in the presence of NCLW Deputy President Wafaa Dikah Hamze and other members of both organizations.

According to an NCLW statement, the memorandum aims to unite efforts by the NCLW and civil society organizations in Lebanon within the framework of "Women Political Leaders," a recently-launched project funded by the British Embassy in Lebanon and implemented by the British Council.

The memorandum aims to increase women’s participation in political decision making and to promote exchange between the NCLW and other organizations in the United Kingdom.

"We aim to increase the number of women participating in Lebanese politics before the next election," set for 2022, a representative of NCLW told The Daily Star.

The 2018 elections saw a record 86 women stand for Parliament, with every conventional party except Hezbollah putting forward female candidates. But only six women scored a place in the 128-member legislative body.

The NCLW made efforts to increase women's political participation prior to the 2018 election through the "Women for Politics" coalition, which advocated for the quota system within the electoral law in Lebanon.