On May 2nd, the National Democratic Institute hosted its tenth annual Madeleine K. Albright Luncheon, which honors those who promote women leaders. Women Act for a Living Together (WALT) was presented with the 2017 Madeleine K. Albright award for their work in helping women bring peace, social cohesion and reconciliation amidst 20 years of devastation and crisis in the Central African Republic.

Lebanon is the oldest democracy in the Middle East, granting women the right to vote and run for office in 1953. So why, more than six decades later, does Lebanon have so few women in its parliament? According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Lebanon ranks 185 out of 193 countries surveyed with only 3 percent of women in its 128-seat parliament. This low rate is not for lack of qualified women. Women now account for more than half of university graduates in Lebanon and can be found in senior level positions in the private sector, civil society, and academic institutions.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) will award its 2017 Madeleine K. Albright Grant to Women Act for Living Together (WALT), a non-profit organization supporting the rights of women and children in the Central African Republic (CAR). Established in 2013 by a group of Muslim and Christian women under the slogan “better together,” WALT heroically championed peace, social cohesion and reconciliation in the face of extreme unrest and violence.