UN meeting on violence, women's rights, and corruption in Lebanon

The UNDP programme in Lebanon organize last Tuesday a summit for decent work in Lebanon.  This event is done simultaneously in New York and in 24 other countries where discussions are taking place on meeting the SDGs by the year 2030.  In Beirut, the event was held in Teatro Verdun with the participation of around 200 concerned individuals, activists and NGOs practitioners in additions to media representatives.  The two hour long discussions focused on corruption, violence against women and women's rights.  The UNDP resident representative in Lebanon, Luca Randa, noted that this meeting allows countries to participate in drawing the global agenda.  During the meeting, lawyer Manar Zeaiter from RDFL  highlighted the problem of violence against women and insisted that this has become a complex problem requiring legal protection of the rights of women.  Participants agreed on the key role of the media as well as social networks in raising awareness about this issue.  Corruption was also discussed by Arkan Siblani, director of UNDP’s anti-corruption and integrity development in the Arab world project, who noted the rampant corruption in Lebanon and the absence of peaceful accountability mechanisms. (L'Orient le Jour, September 22, 2016)