As Safir newspaper published a report in the struggles of Palestinian women and men in Ain el Helweh in order to secure decent work in the context of stringent Lebanese Labour Law which makes it difficult for Palestinians to find work outside their refugee camp.  The report includes stories of women who have fought to secure the livelihoods of their families and good education of their children in schools and universities.  A case in point is that of Fatmeh who is mother of 4 girls and one boy.  Fatmeh is the sole breadwinner as her husband is ill and unable to work.  She learned to be a seamstress in 1984 and was sewing clothes at home.  With the increasing demands of her family, sewing from home was no longer sufficient.  As such, she thought of starting a project which would meet the needs of her family.  She was able to borrow USD 1500 from a lending programme funded by the EU, bought sewing machines and rented a small shop in Ain el Helweh.  She now considers herself to be quite a success as her clients come from outside the camp to order wedding dresses.
Source: Al-Safir 17 June 2013

The SMART centre for communication organised last week a political debate which is the first in a series of debates it is planning to carry out in the different regions amongst women candidates.  This event was carried out in Byblos and brought together two candidates Josephine Zougheib and Nehmat Badereddine.
According to the project director, Silva Akl, the SMART Centre is seeking through its projects and training events to engage women in politics through building their capacity and that of their campaigning teams as well as changing stereotypes of women in Lebanon and the Arab world.  She also added that the project entitled Women Advocates for Women's Votes seeks to visibilise women as politicians as well as prepare electors to practice accountability vis-à-vis elected candidates.  Akl described the various stages of the project and noted that it has so far trained 41 women in various topics which will enable them to run successful political campaigns.
Source: Al-Nahar 17 June 2013

The Lebanese League for Women’s Rights announced during a press conference held last week at the UNESCO Palace the results of the elections of its new executive and which now consists of Azza el-horr Mroue as the president, Amal SAfadai as the Vice President and Media Coordinator, and Linda Matar as the Foreign Affairs Coordinator.  The League also revealed the recommendations of its eighteenth congress which was convened earlier this month under the slogan “together we can work towards change”.  The League reiterated its intention to pursue its struggle to achieve full citizenship without discrimination between women and men through mainstreaming gender in general policies.  The League emphasised that it will continue to work on the reform of the penal code and the nationality law as well as adopting a civil family law and a law to protect women from domestic violence.  The League also stressed the importance of pooling efforts and adopting the women’s quota as a temporary measure to ensure women’s dignity as well as work towards a civil and non confessional state.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 15 June 2013

DOT-Lebanon organised in partnership with the Akkar Network for Development the graduation of 136 trainees from its project entitled mobilising local communities by means of technology and innovation in North Lebanon (ACTION) which is being financed by the American Embassy in Beirut.  The celebration was organised at Minyara municipality with the participation of a number of municipal heads and representatives from the educational and social sectors.  The celebration included the viewing of a documentary on the project and on its various implementation phases followed by the distribution of certificates to the trainees whose ages ranged between 15 to 25 years and drawn from the villages of Berqayel, Akroum, Koubayyat, and Wadi Khaled.  The project aimed at empowering young people and women in the area of Akkar, through providing them with skills, experience in IT, leadership and entrepreneurship so that they can integrate public life and create new opportunities to contribute to local community development through the set up of small projects.  During the next phase of the project, the graduate trainees will implement small projects in collaboration with selected municipalities.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 14 June 2013