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Business incubators, micro-credit at Jinan, Arab Open Universities

14-5-2018

As part of efforts to raise awareness on the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the faculty of business administration and information at Al Jinan University, Saida Branch, organized on Friday a talk under the headline, ‘The impact of business incubators on the development of SMEs and the role of the media in promoting them’. On the occasion, the director of the University branch, Asaad Naderi, said this subject is characterized by its novelty and uniqueness, especially that it has not been adequately addressed to date, and because highlighting the role of the media to this effect gives it added significance, as he put it. For his part, the assistant dean of the faculty of information, Mustafa Matbouli, pointed to the importance of traditional and new media in publicizing the activities of SMEs to the consumer community, which, he explained, has positive impact on the creation of jobs for the Lebanese youth and increases growth rate in the country. In a related vein, the Arab Open University held last week an international conference on microfinance which called for the activation of microfinance products and ways to engage a larger number of beneficiaries from the sector. The president of the AOU, Fairuz Sarkis, underlined the importance of microfinance and challenges in contributing to economic growth and its inclusion within the goals of sustainable development. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, May 12, 14, 2018)

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Young women from South Lebanon challenge the male-dominated world of football

14-5-2018

In a feature published on Saturday, Al Akhbar daily wrote that a few miles from the entrance to the southern town of Tayrdibbah, young women and girls dressed in sportswear run whole-heartedly to the stadium looking forward to enter the world of football. The girls, who come from the villages of Tairdibba, Qana, Bidias, Bazurieh, Ansar and Bleeda, have formed the nucleus of the ‘Tayrdibbah Stars Club’ which recently joined the Lebanese Football Federation. On the subject, the newspaper spoke to the club chief, Abbas Taleb, who said that despite the lack of support and his bearing the material costs personally along with the team’s administrative committee, and despite the moral war started against him, he will carry on, believing that this project gives girls a chance to be themselves. “This will certainly be a new beginning for girls’ and women’s sports in the area in general, as well as, a window that reflects the social and cultural reality away from prevalent stereotypes,” Taleb maintained. (For more on the feature, kindly refer to the link: https://goo.gl/YiZzj8). On the other hand, the vice president of Al Waleed Bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation, Leila Solh Hamadeh, honored Al Riyadi’s Women’s Team after its participation in the East Europe League and its qualification for the quarter-finals as well as its winning the Lebanese Cup and West Asia Cup for the 4th consecutive time. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, May 12, 14, 2018)

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Head of Baalbek International Festival, May Arida, passes away

14-5-2018

The president of Lebanon’s Baalbek International Festival since 1973, May Arida, passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Arida strived to bring to light Lebanon’s cultural and civilized image and spotlighted the country on the map of international festivals. She is considered as one of the icons of the country’s Golden Age, as she was a founding member of the Baalbek International Festival and later became the honorary president of these festivals. Arida received many awards, including the Gold Medal of the Lebanese Merit from President Suleiman Franjieh in 1976; the Commander of National Order of Cedars from President Emile Lahoud, 2000, and from King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan, the Order of Commander. Arida also received the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur from President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, 1978, besides awards from the Italian President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, 2005, and from the King of Spain, Juan carlos, 2009. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, May 14, 2018)

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Philippine domestic workers to Emirates after Kuwait dispute

11-5-2018

A group of private Filipino recruiting agencies appealed to their government to approve sending national household service workers (HSW) to the UAE following the dispute with Kuwait. Dolly Oanang from the Philippine workforce agencies said the Emirates is a good alternative market to replace Kuwait, noting similarity of working conditions between the two Arab states, which expedites workers’ transition. For his part, Jacinto Barras, the undersecretary of the ministry of foreign trade, braced the idea of opening the UAE market to HSW agencies. To recall, the standoff between Philippine and Kuwait has intensified after President Duterte banned the deployment of Filipinos in Kuwait and asked his nationals to leave the Gulf state within 72 hours, extending free return tickets for that purpose. The row erupted following the murder of a Filipino domestic worker whose body was found stuffed in a freezer inside the apartment of expatriate employers in Kuwait. And despite the announcement by Kuwaiti authorities of the arrest of the murderer, the crisis re-ignited between the two countries over videos which went viral on social media showing Philippine embassy staff helping workers in Kuwait flee allegedly abusive employees in cars with diplomatic plates after complaints of abuse. (Al Diyar, May 8, 2018)

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Call for lifting discrimination against Arab women with disabilities

11-5-2018

The Arab Organization of People with Disabilities (AODP) held its third regional conference of the Arab Forum for Women with Disabilities in Cairo (April 28-29) under the headline, ‘Cooperation for a safer world without obstacles’. The event, which comes as part of the ‘The inclusion of persons with disabilities within the Sustainable Development agenda 2030’, is in partnership with the Women, Family and Childhood Department at the League of Arab States, WRC and CRTDA with the support of AGFUND. Participants in the conference stressed the need to repeal discriminatory legislations and policies that prevent women and girls with disabilities from enjoying their rights as recognized in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and similar human and women’s rights agreements. Participants also pressed for ensuring that individuals with disabilities have access to quality health services, particularly sexual and reproductive health services, and the inclusion of plans targeting women and girls with disabilities in all relevant strategies. They appealed to the Arab League to adopt the said declaration, including demands related to girls and women with disabilities and the mothers of disabled children in order to ensure their equal participation in society. (An Nahar, May 11, 2018)

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Bazaar in Beirut to support small-scale artisans, producers

11-5-2018

As part of ‘Supporting host communities in Lebanon affected by the high influx of Syrian refugees’, the industry ministry and UNIDO opened yesterday the artisan and handicraft fair, YAD, in Ashrafieh, Beirut, under the patronage of minister Hussein Haj Hassan, represented by director general, Dany Gedoun. On the occasion, the ambassador of Austria, Mayan Wrba, said YAD is a convenient tool to improve the productive capacity of host communities and to generate livelihood support. It also provides beneficiaries from host communities with technical and market-oriented skills. Gedoun for his part, stressed the importance of the project, which he maintained, “does not only lie in the direct assistance, in terms of specialized machinery and technical training, but, it is the first time we decide to include innovation and creativity into specific selected made-in-Lebanon products.” This innovation, he said, displayed a range of goods like, tableware (cutleries and ceramics), home decorations (lightings, cushions, curtains and tablecloths), in addition to traditional and modern soap designs, with the aim to help small producers enter the local and international markets. (Al Mustaqbal, May 11, 2018)

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Council of Women: Lebanese electoral law must be amended to include quota

11-5-2018

The Lebanese Council of Women (LCW), an umbrella for some 150 women associations, thanked yesterday President Michel Aoun for the democratic process of the parliamentary elections which ran smoothly and without security threats. LCW however expressed regret for the failure to vote women into the parliament in consistence with the ratio they represent across the country (nearly 53%), despite the relatively unexpected large number of female candidates, of which only 4% made it to the Legislature. Therefore, LCW submitted to Aoun the approval of the amendment of the current electoral law with the inclusion of the minimum 30% women representation quota, as mandated by the Beijing Declaration, pointing that the application of the law in effect has proved that the Lebanese people are not prepared yet to voluntarily elect women. LCW President, Iqbal Dughan, congratulated MP Bahiya Hariri for her victory in the elections, inspiring her to adopt the Council’s demands to support women’s right and the above quota, as well as, their rights to confer nationality to their children in line with the Constitution which sustained gender parity. (Al Mustaqbal, May 11, 2018)

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Parties failed women during 2018 elections

10-5-2018

Prime Minister Saad Hariri congratulated Lebanese women for winning in the elections, tweeting: “Congratulations to the women of Lebanon their six seats in the Legislature and Mabrook to the Future Movement its winning half of these seats’. Our struggle to advocate women’s rights and support their active political engagement is long and unceasing.” Similarly, the minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, said in an address to the new women lawmakers, that he was anticipating a larger share for women in the parliament, pledging to strive for reaching a minimum of 30% quota. For her part, NCLW chief, Claudine Aoun Rukuz, said the Commission will seek to improve women’s representation in parliament through demanding the inclusion of a transitional women’s quota in the electoral law in order to pursue political parties to change the repetitive political practices in recruiting their candidates. Rukuz disclosed that NCLW shall work to increase the number of women ministers in the upcoming cabinet, lamenting that parties in Lebanon have failed to back women. On the other hand, Jumana Haddad, candidate on Beirut 1st District (https://bit.ly/2InGdbT), is preparing to appeal before the Constitutional Council, noting that she has submitted a petition through her agent Melhem Khalaf, to the minister of interior to obtain the necessary documents to this effect. (AL Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, May 10, 2018)

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First women rally in Lebanon and first car driving day in Saudi Arabia!

10-5-2018

For the first time in Lebanon and under the supervision of ATCL and the auspices of Tech Group, the Rallye des Graces will take place on Saturday and Sunday May 19-20, with the participation of women drivers and sailors on classic cars from the UK, US, Switzerland, China, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Italy and Lebanon. On the event, the head of the organizing party, Shahrazad Rizk, who took part in the Switzerland rally three times, said Arab and foreign women participants are business women who are well-known around the world, calling on Lebanese women to join the race. Rizk explained that the rally has three objectives, first of which is economic, especially that partakers come from the world of business and economy and seek to promote their products in the country. The second and third objectives are sportive and touristic where the rally will pass through scenic Lebanese countryside and towns. Meanwhile, the director of the Saudi General Department of Traffic, General Mohamad Bin Abdallah Bassami announced in a statement yesterday that women in the Kingdom will be allowed to start driving as of June 24th. He said all requirements and conditions to this effect have been met. To recall, that on last September 26, King Salman Abdel Aziz issued a royal decree sanctioning women to get driving licenses for the first time in the history of the Kingdom. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, May 9, 10, 2018)

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How to benefit from USAID technical support to SMEs

10-5-2018

The USAID-funded Lebanon Enterprise Development (LED) project in partnership with the Business Incubation Association in Tripoli (BIAT), discussed yesterday the development of the said project in the country and how to benefit from its technical support. The meeting was held in the presence of Edward Wade, head of the US Diplomatic Mission in Beirut led by a delegation from the US Embassy. During the meeting, Douglas Griffiths, managing director of LED, said the aim of the project is to provide more jobs through backing the private sector and entrepreneurship, and dodging hitches that might hinder the process and the creation of jobs. The initiative is directed towards all the regions in Lebanon, Griffiths stated. He then outlined the project and identified the areas that can be exploited to find ways to determine targeted sectors. Wade, in his turn, said he hoped the project will be successful in generating employment, and is looking forward to helping the Lebanese economy. The undertaking, he mentioned, is keen to support entrepreneurship across various sectors, stressing that any activity which provides jobs could benefit from assistance. (Al Mustaqbal, May 10, 2018)

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