On the declared ‘National Day of Liberation’, 43 country meeting in Krakow celebrates the historic participation of Libyan civil society to the Euro-Mediterranean process

Krakow, 23 October 2011: The Annual Meeting of the Anna Lindh Foundation's 43 Heads of National Network concluded today with the announcement that for the very first time an ‘Anna Lindh Civil Society Network’ will be established in Libya.

Taking place in Krakow, under the Polish Presidency of the European Union, the focus of this year's Annual Networks Meeting was on the response of the Anna Lindh Foundation to the Arab Spring and democratic reform processes in the Southern Mediterranean region, in particular the contribution of the Foundation's Network of 3000 NGOs and civil society groups to the new and emerging challenges in the Region.

The Meeting was also the occasion to invite the participation of Libyan civil society to this Euro-Mediterranean gathering, following the historic political and social changes that have taken place since the start of the year. The announcement of Libya’s participation to the Anna Lindh Foundation took place on the same day that the leaders of the provisional Libyan government declared the liberation of the country from 42 years of rule by Colonel Muammer Gaddafi.

Speaking at the closing plenary session of the Annual Networks Meeting, Irahim Al Ali Alklami, a Libyan lawyer and human rights activist, said: "Today, New Libya has arrived and is open for all the world. We want to bring people to our country and we want people in our country to have the opportunity to travel and exchange ideas with civil societies across the region. This is why the Anna Lindh Foundation is so important for us, to share good practices through its Network on how to face the new challenges of transition, in particular how to support the participation of youth who have been isolated for so many years by the previous regime."

The intervention received a standing ovation from the Meeting delegates of the 43 National Civil Societies, which includes representatives from the European Union and its Southern and Eastern Mediterranean partners (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Mauritania, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey).

The Secretariat of the Foundation, which is based in Alexandria (Egypt), also announced in the concluding session that it has received the support of its Board of Governors to establish a National Network in Libya, and would be sending a team to Libya in the next weeks to begin supporting the preparation of the Network.