The Made at Home association concluded yesterday its second training sessions for the empowerment of women in rural areas, which is funded by the US Embassy in Lebanon.  The organization is implementing a training cycle of 6 sessions revolving all over Lebanon.  The event that took place in Bedghan included an exhibition of food produced by the workshop participants.  The aim of the workshop was to enable these women to produce according to the international HACCP standards for food safety.
The president of the association, Wafa Abed noted that the aim of this initiative is to encourage rural women to stay in their villages.  The workshops, she noted, are part of an awareness raising campaign seeking to introduce women to international safety standards.  They are being implemented in collaboration with the municipality as well as key organisations and leading figures in the region.  During the workshop, participants were provided with materials and brochures which carry the slogan “together, we guarantee the safety of our families” and that include information and instructions on how to contribute to the national campaign for food safety.  The entire venture is part of the general effort of the association to revive heritage and traditional food making. Abed concluded that such training workshop seeks to build the capacities f women in producing safe food as well as increasing the productivity of rural women.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 4 December 2012

Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published a report on unemployment rates amongst the youth in Lebanon and on the ways in which young people cope with this problem.  As-Safir noted that university graduates tend to be overqualified but without any professional experience that will allow them to overcome unemployment which was estimated to run high at around 53% of youth of over 15 years of age and according to  2009 figures released by the Central Statistics Administration.  The newspaper report added that there are around 11500 women and men pursuing higher degrees at the Lebanese University during the 2011 academic year according to a study published by Beyt.com entitled “Middle East and North Africa Graduates”.  The same source indicates that 74% of graduates did not receive any support from their universities to seek employment and most had to use online information.  In the absence of any real employment opportunity, many opted to continue their higher education despite the costs incurred.

The report goes on to quote human resources expert, Ramez Tambour, who noted that aside from the public sector, there are no local employment opportunities for Lebanese graduates especially since there is no matching between market demands and supply by the education and training systems.  In fact, the local employment market is clearly unable to absorb all the fresh graduates every year.  Tambour warned that pursing degrees in Masters had devastating economic and social impacts especially since it actually results in freezing all return on investment made in young people and also fuels , according to the same person, corruption and various social ills among young people because of idle time availability.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 4 December 2012

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly presented certificates to more than 600 graduates of the Teach Women English program, bringing the total number of women who have taken part in the program so far to more than 3,000 women. Teach Women English, is a U.S. Embassy funded project run by the Lebanese organization Hayya Bina, and implemented all over Lebanon in collaboration with several NGOs and local municipalities.

Speaking during the ceremony at the Beirut Order of Physicians, Connelly said that she hoped the language skills acquired by the graduates would act as a bridge between them and other Lebanese, keeping the country strong, stable and prosperous. The ambassador also said she hoped more women would begin to participate in public life, particularly government, lamenting the fact that there are no female ministers in the current Cabinet.

Hayya Bina’s president, Loqman Sleem, highlighted the programs goals that provided along with English courses, several cultural and educational components, and which brought students closer to each other despite the fact that they come from different regions of the country. Finally, Sleem added that the Teach Women English is a unique program tailored to the needs in Lebanon and it is not a copy of any foreign curriculum, and that it aims at creating opportunities for women to learn English especially those living in peripheral areas.

Source: The Daily Star, Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal 3.12.2012