A delegation of Lebanese business women visited the Femina 2013 business exhibition in Greece last week, an event in which the delegation also took part.  The visit was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tripoli in collaboration with their Greek homologues.  It sought to provide a space for bilateral discussions amongst Lebanese and Greek business women with a view to collaborate in joint business ventures.
Source: Al-Safir 6 February 2013

The ILO organised yesterday a regional meeting for Arab trade unions entitled: "Women and trade unions in the Arab regions: decent work through organising".  The meeting was attended by trade unions and women organisations representatives from 12 Arab countries notably Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia.
The event was part of the ILO project entitled "building the social, economic and legal capacities of trade unions in the Arab region".
The Lebanese General Trade Union presented a paper indicating that women's participation in trade unions in Lebanon does not exceed 10% of total membership with only 2-5% of leadership positions occupied by women.
Arab women participants noted that generally discrimination against women in the Arab region still prevails particularly in the economic sector where power still lies amongst men. Furthermore, , the ILO senior technical advisor Obeid AL-Berieki indicated in an interview with As Safir newspaper that both women and men in the region suffer from lack of knowledge about union work however women seem to suffer most from this problem as, according to him, women are still bound in stereotypical gender roles.  He also added that Arab trade unions still lag behind in mainstreaming women's priorities and concerns in their agenda and he further reiterated the poor representation of women at the leadership level of these trade unions.  He finally noted that women form only 20% of the membership of trade unions in Jordan and Bahrain and that in the case of Lebanon, women are totally absent from the executive boards of some 600 trade union bodies.  
The regional director of the ILO, Nada Nashef, noted for her part that the weak representation of women in trade unions has led to the emergence of other forms of activism to support women demanding their rights.  She called for collaboration amongst women organisations and trade unions in support of the rights of working women and to help them reach leadership positions.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal 5 February 2013

The Fatwa issued by Mufti Kabbani against civil marriage continues its ripple effect… The Higher Shiite Council recently declared that “the institution refuses the concept of civil marriage from a religious, national, legal, and ethical perspective”.  The Council called however for the creation of a framework for a national dialogue on this subject in line with the provisions of the Constitution and the Lebanese social contract.  The Coalition of Beirut Associations declared for their part its full and unequivocal support to Kabbani’s Fatwa as well as its total refusal to even discuss this matter which it considered to be non-constitutional and in full violation of the Islam. The matter was further exacerbated by speeches during last Friday prayers in various parts of Akkar, Baalbak, Beirut and Tripoli as the Muslim clergy demanded that the matter be banned from discussion!
However, former PM Sa3ed Hariri openly criticized during a interview on TV the Mufti’s Fatwa stating that the declaration of apostasy is unacceptable and hoping that civil marriage will be codified in Lebanon but following an in depth social dialogue.
For its part the Lebanese Communist party noted that move towards discussing ad codifying civil marriage is a legitimate step forward yet insufficient as the starting point should be the adoption o f a civil family law.
Along the same vein, a recent opinion poll carried out by Information International showed that 51% of the Lebanese support optional civil marriage whilst 46% support religious marriages, 31% of Sunni citizens support civil marriage and 66% religious marriages. As for Kabbani’s Fatwa the poll showed that 42% of the Lebanese are against it, while 26% support it while the remaining 22% considered that were ambivalent towards the Fatwa. Looking within the Sunni community, the opinion poll showed that 53% of its members supported the Fatwa and 27% were against it.
The resurgence of interest in civil marriage has prompted the emergence of several forms of dynamics on social media and civic actions.  A new face book group supporting civil marriage created a facebook page entitled “We got married and we hope you will be next” whilst an anti civil marriage group has created another page called “No to Civil Marriage!”,  the latter group shares the views of the clergy on that matter.  On another level, a petition for civil marriage is currently circulating on the social media and is seeking to collect 10000 signatories to ask for endorsing the first civil marriage contracted in Lebanon, while other activists have also called for a sit in on Monday 4th of February at 4:00 PM, at Place de L'Etoile under the slogan: I am for a civil state, I am for a civil individual, I am for civil marriage”.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Hayat, Al-Akhbar 4 February 2013

The Women Affairs Committee called for an extraordinary meeting at its premises in Chiyah. The meeting was headed by the association’s president, Shahnaz Mallah and was convened on the occasion of the Arab Women’s Day celebrated on February 1st. On that occasion the association issued a concluding statement where it raises red flags with regards to the rights of women in several Arab countries and which remain hostage to traditions and harmful practices.  The association reminded its audience of the Arab Women’s Day which was consecrated by the Arab Parliamentarian Union upon the recommendation of Lebanese Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri and as an initiative that was aiming at contributing to the recognition and realization of the rights and full potentials of women.  The statement asked about the ways in which women can be liberated from the larger societal prison and called for civil society organisations to play an active role supporting Arab women in their fight against discrimination and to challenge harmful practices and traditions which are now being fostered by the rise in fundamentalism and racism.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal 4 February 2013