News
First women graduate from new Libya program MEDA recently celebrated the graduation of its first training group from the Libya Women Economic Empowerment (LWEE) project. LWEE, reaching 210 women entrepreneurs with job‑creating opportunities for an additional 700 individuals, is jointly funded by USAID and MEDA supporters and is implemented in partnership with three local organizations: Phoenix, Libyan Women Forum and Consultants Alliance. The 20 entrepreneurial women who completed the month‑long business training course can now move forward with their business ideas. Business opportunities for women in Libya have traditionally been limited. MEDA received 300 applications for the 20 spots available in the first class. In gratitude for being able to participate, the women planted a tree in the office garden and called it Hope. “It symbolizes their hope in improving their life and achieving success as Libyan women entrepreneurs following the fundamental training they received,” explains Intissar Rajabany, MEDA’s project manager in Libya. Another 180 women are expected to graduate by the end of the two‑year project. LWEE staff will provide ongoing mentorship and networking to keep in touch with graduates. Through a business plan competition, the project will provide matching grants to fund some Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
Some of the first graduates of MEDA’s new Libya program, shown with the tree they planted to celebrate their fresh start. of the top ideas submitted. Although LWEE is in its early days, Intissar reports it is already having a big impact. “The changes we’ve seen in the attitude and behavior of the
women as compared to four weeks earlier are 180 degrees different. As much as these are motivated women who have sacrificed time to do this, they are more outgoing in their out-
look, they are wearing brighter colors, they are very comfortable with the male trainers and they are just full of life and vitality.” — Jaclyn Stief, MEDA news service
It won’t be fought with water pistols “Unclean water is the greatest killer on the globe, yet a fifth of humankind still lacks easy access to potable water,” Chellaney writes. “More than half of the global population lives under water stress — a figure projected to increase to two-thirds during the next decade.” A paradox about water is that it is a life preserver “but it can also be a life destroyer when it becomes a carrier of deadly bacteria or comes in the deluge of a tsunami, a flash
How close are we to seeing major battles waged over water? Closer than we used to be, says geostrategist Brahma Chellaney. An “increasingly parched world” raises the possibility that water could become a weapon of war or a tool for terrorism, he writes in the Globe & Mail. “Water is becoming the world’s next major security and economic challenge.” Wherever water is scarce, there’s conflict in the making.
The Marketplace November December 2013
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flood or a hurricane.” He notes soberly that “There are substitutes for many resources, including oil, but none for water.” The single biggest driver of water stress is growth in consumption, says Chellaney. “Rising incomes, for example, have promoted richer diets, especially a greater intake of meat, whose production is notoriously water-intensive... it is about 10 times more waterintensive to produce beef than to produce cereals.” ◆
