Ghalia Sassi: Women’s Empowerment is Not a Choice, but a Prerequisite for Peace

Tripoli, Libya — For years, Ghalia Sassi worked in the education sector before beginning her civil society engagement, leading community initiatives and acting as an independent political figure focused on women’s issues and advocating for their rights. Through her experience, she observed that while women contribute significantly to state institutions, their presence in decision-making positions remains limited.

This reality also appears in UN Women’s 2022 study on Libyan Women in Public Office and Decision-Making, which shows that women represent 46% of the workforce in ministerial institutions, including 70% in education and 63% in health. Despite these high numbers, women still lack representation in leadership roles.

After 2011, Ghalia joined one of the newly established political parties to strengthen women’s participation. Yet she faced many challenges, including insufficient legal frameworks that fail to support and empower women, the absence of protection mechanisms, and social resistance that limits women’s political engagement. In this regard, UN Women’s 2023 study on Women’s Political Participation in Libya: Review of Electoral Legislation identifies these same barriers and highlights the importance of civil society engagement and training programmes as key pathways to strengthen women’s participation.

Ghalia explains that her experience confirmed that women’s political participation requires more than including their names on electoral lists; it demands economic empowerment, self-confidence, and awareness of rights. She observes that many women withdrew from candidacy due to limited protection and an unsupportive environment.

Building on these lessons, Ghalia shifted her focus to women’s economic empowerment. She founded training centres that offered courses in tailoring, computing, and languages, creating broader job opportunities for women. International partners later supported and expanded the project, and other cities replicated the model. For Ghalia, establishing these centres represents a vital step toward strengthening women’s role in economic life. “I can be a strong voice and a helping hand that contributes to improving the situation of women and their living conditions,” she says.

In addition to her work on the ground, Ghalia leads several roles within civil society. She serves as executive director of the Libyan Women’s Network for Peace Support and heads the Ma’aha Organization for Women’s Rights. She also led the “With Thirty We Begin” campaign, which aimed to pass legislation enhancing women’s participation in decision-making. The campaign collected 70 signatures from Members of Parliament before the armed conflict in Tripoli in 2019 forced her to halt the effort.

Ghalia notes that UN Women Libya supported her journey through capacity-building programmes on women’s rights and mediation, and through training on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which calls for women’s active participation in peacebuilding. “The knowledge I gained through these programmes and trainings gave me the confidence to speak up and link my local work to broader efforts for change,” she says. UN Women conducts research and supports women’s networks and alliances in national dialogues, which strengthen her role as a civil society actor.

In 2025, the efforts of Ghalia, civil society organizations, and the “With Thirty We Begin” campaign began to bear fruit. Through her advocacy and continuous engagement, Ghalia contributed to the inclusion of a recommendation for a minimum quota of 30% for women in any upcoming elections in Libya. This development came as a result of her ongoing coordination with members of the Advisory Committee established by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to address political bottlenecks. The committee’s final report included a clear recommendation to adopt this quota within legislative bodies. This achievement represents the outcome of coordinated, cumulative work by women activists and civil society organizations, and marks a significant step toward strengthening women’s representation in Libya’s political life.

This year, Ghalia continued her presence in national discussions by joining a meeting that the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) organized in Tripoli, in cooperation with UN Women Libya and UNDP. The meeting focused on developing a Code of Conduct to Prevent Violence Against Women in Elections, and brought together candidates, young women, and women with disabilities. For Ghalia, this participation reflects her ongoing commitment to women’s empowerment and her belief that protecting women from violence forms a prerequisite for fair and inclusive political participation.

Reflecting regional recognition of her contribution, she was chosen, with the support of UNSMIL, to represent North Africa at the launch of the “She Stands for Peace” E-Book in Windhoek, Namibia, organized by the African Union and the United Nations. The book highlights twenty African women who have played an active role in building peace within their communities. This recognition stands as a tribute to Ghalia’s ongoing efforts to promote peace and women’s empowerment in Libya and beyond.

Ghalia believes that the progress women achieved so far remains fragile. She emphasizes that achieving fair opportunities requires continuous training, awareness-raising, and the development of stronger legal frameworks that enable women to participate effectively at all levels.