Women who break the mold. Ayat Mneina brought the Libyan revolution to the attention of the world


12/05/2022

The 19th and 20th May, a hundred of women leaders from Africa, Latin America and Europe will hold a major meeting in Madrid. Under the name ‘Women’s Bridges. Proposals from the South for global change’, they will debate the major issues of concern to the global population. The aim is to ensure that they are heard and taken into account. To this end, they will prepare a document with proposals which will be presented to the international community.

In this section we introduce you to some of these leaders. They are all women who will impress you. We have made the choice of presenting you those who are going to be the coordinators of the different working groups, but you will find biographies of all the participants on this website.


Today we introduce you AYAT MNEINA , who together with Obiageli Ezekwesili , coordinates the working group Economic, technological and digital empowerment”

Ayat Meina has been one of the people who has best contributed to making the international community aware of what was really happening during Libya’s 2011 revolution and civil war. She did this by using the power of social media to outsmart the media censorship.

She founded ShababLibya (Libyan Youth Movement), a platform that used Twitter and Facebook to report and live-broadcast the situation in the country. Major international broadcasters and media outlets used her contacts and images to provide reliable information on Libya.

Ayat Meina is very active in sharing her knowledge on Libya. As an independent consultant and strong advocate for human rights, she is an authoritative voice in major international forums.

She is currently involved in Stories of Girls Resistance, a feminist storytelling program where young girls tell their inspiring, unfiltered stories and imagine better worlds for themselves and others. Ayat Meina is the commissioner for the Middle East and North Africa region of this program, which spreads their stories via Instagram.

Based in Canada, she organizes anti-racism courses for the Canadian public administration.

With a Master’s degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, she has held a variety of positions. in academia as a researcher at the Centre for Vaccine and Drug Evaluation; and at the government, as a policy analyst in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

She is a member of Karama, a leading women’s network in the Middle East and North Africa which is aimed at ending violence against women and girls and ensuring that women can participate in decisions that affect them.

At this summit she is coordinating, along with Obiageli Ezekwesili, the working group named Economic, Technological and Digital Empowerment.

(Translated by Alba González Pascual, Student trainee, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares)

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