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Cold apple storage in Fneidik supports farmers

28-3-2018

In its Saturday’s issue, Al Mustaqbal newspaper shed light on the cold apple storage facility launched by Emkan association in Fneidik, Akkar, back in 2011. The warehouse boasts one of the most sophisticated and modern equipment needed to keep apples in good condition for a long period, according to Al Mustaqbal. The facility contributes to the reduction of production cost and preservation of the apple harvest, and allows farmers to sort and pack their produce until they finish marketing their production wholesale in all the regions across Lebanon. Apple growers said the Fneidik warehouse also helped in lowering the cost of transport, where in the past they had to transfer the apples to Tripoli, Jbeil, or as far as Beirut for storage. Besides, Al Mustaqbal concluded, the cold storage room is currently developing agricultural programs targeting local farmers aimed to provide agricultural extension and assistance on the one hand, and to help select first-rate varieties of apples and crops on the other. (Al Mustaqbal, March 24, 2018)

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Al Akhbar: Horeca lacks luster for its silver jubilee

28-3-2018

After the opening last week of the largest annual hospitality trade show, Horeca 2018, under the slogan ‘From Lebanon to the world’, (https://goo.gl/Ly9QPe) , Al Akhbar wrote yesterday, it is fair to admit that the exhibition lacked the luster pictured on its silver jubilee and that nothing is alluring or striking enough to conquer the world. Yet still, it is not without some positive outcomes, to expect the least. As its broad title relays, the exhibition was aimed ‘from Lebanon to the world’, yet the number of international participants was below expectations and the majority of companies were present in the past few years. Some told the newspaper that they participated out of ‘an obligation or a proof of attendance’ rather than for the display of new and original services and goods. Besides, the newspaper went on to say, the entrance fee for ordinary showgoers from outside the industry was set at LL 50,000, whereas specialists, invitees and staff entered free of charge. Ironically, the event which is supposed to be hospitality-related, did not impart a sense of hospitality or bounty given the prohibitive entrance fees. One advantage of the event is that it offered small scale producers and manufacturers the space and opportunity to showcase their products and secure new markets and clients for their businesses. The article is found on the following link: :https://al-akhbar.com/Finance_Markets/247054. (AL Akhbar, March 27, 2018)

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Will religious educators in Tripoli boycott 2018 elections?

28-3-2018

Nearly 100 women religious educators in Awqaf Tripoli decided after a meeting yesterday to boycott the parliamentary elections until their legitimate rights are fulfilled. The step was taken following the suspension of the 3-month financial grant worth of USD 300 per teacher from the UAE as well as the health insurance, noting that the 100 teachers’ parents have decided to join their daughters in the boycott action. To recall, the protest is not the first, for the teachers have earlier staged a sit-in in front of Dar al Fatwa demanding an improvement of their economic conditions, including a raise to their LL 7,000 hourly pay. Their demands however were not met, not in the North nor in the capital Beirut. During the meeting, one teacher asked whether it is acceptable to earn LL500,000 per month while the political or spiritual authorities cannot find a solution to the problem, stressing they will not cease their call for boycott until this is resolved. Another teacher revealed meeting with one Tripoli MP who pledged to help but not before the elections are over, which was totally rejected by the protestors. (Al Diyar, March 28, 2018)

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Leila Shahud, Dima Jamali, Future candidates to help the deprived

27-3-2018

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar newspaper spotlighted the two women candidates on Future Movement’s North electoral list, Leila Shahud and Dima Jamali. Shahud, Al Akhbar wrote, is the first Alawite woman to run for and win the minority seat in the municipal elections in 2004 and 2010. Shahud was educated at the Tripoli public school and Jinan University where she earned a degree in information. She was a columnist (1993 to 2004) with Adib political newspaper where she was committed to writing about people’s lived hardships. Today, Shahud told Al Akhbar’s reporter, she decided to run for the parliamentary elections which will give her advantage to better serving her deprived community. Dima Jamali, on the other hand, has been the representative of UN Global Compact Network (GCNL) since 2015. She said the elections presented her with an opportunity to continue her late father Rashid Jamali’s journey in the service of Tripoli, recalling his chairing for years of the Islamic-Christian National Dialogue Committee. Jamali studied at Lycee Tripoli then graduated from AUB to follow up her post-graduate studies between the US and UK, where she earned her PhD in social policy and administration. Jamali told Al Akhbar that she has chosen to stay away from political discourse and focus on economy and development in her electoral program. (Al Akhbar, March 27, 2018)

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Sexual harassment draft laws unable to protect marginalised people

27-3-2018

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar newspaper referred to a study by researcher Mona Khneiser of the Issam Fares Institute, AUB, and which examines the sexual harassment draft laws in Lebanon. According to Al Akhbar, the study found that such laws contribute to adjusting legal provisions that impede the process of addressing various forms of systematic violence against women, and have a significant contribution in breaking societal silence of sexual assaults through giving harassment a serious social dimension that calls for deterrent policies. Yet, Al Akhbar said, the study revealed that the legislations, submitted by MP Ghassan Mkheiber and minister of state for women’s affair, Jean Ogassapian, to criminalize sexual harassment, still fall short of protecting marginalized and vulnerable groups or of presenting a comprehensive overview of sexual harassment as a form of gender-based violence and discrimination. Khneiser concluded her analysis by saying that harassment policies are based on “legalized neutrality” and an “ethical” approach that views sexual harassment as an act that impinges upon or violates “dignity” and “honor”. She mentioned that she did not take into account the unequal power relationships between the victim and the harasser in relation to arbitral procedures. For more on the study, kindly refer to the following link: :https://goo.gl/3kjbBG. (Al Akhbar, March 26, 2018)

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Lebanon stresses from NY the need to achieve gender equality

27-3-2018

The Commission on the Status of Women concluded its 62nd session at the UN headquarters in New York with the participation of representatives from all regions of the world with the priority theme, ‘Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls’. The new Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York, Amal Mudalali, headed an official Lebanese delegation at the meeting. Cynthia Shidiac, the consul at the permanent mission of Lebanon, underlined the importance of achieving gender equality with focus on the active role of NGOs, civil society and women’s rights advocates in this regard. Shidiac stressed the need to weigh up all possibilities and use up all means to reach gender equality as an unswerving devotion to the advancement of societies. On the sidelines of the UN session, Lebanon organized a workshop entitled, ‘Towards transformational empowerment: the status of rural women in Lebanon’ aimed to highlight the pivotal role of rural women in the agri-food sector and in rural development. The workshop mentioned the main challenges facing the rural woman and spotlighted the innovative experience of the National Observatory for Women in Agriculture and Rural Areas (NOWARA). (Al Mustaqbal, March 27, 2018)

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Lebanese Women’s Council and My Nationality reject chauvinist nationality law amendment

27-3-2018

The Lebanese Women’s Council and My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family campaign announced in a joint public statement yesterday their rejection of the fourth paragraph of Jibran Bassil’s draft amendment of the current nationality law. The proposed law allows Lebanese women to pass nationality to their children with an added clause excluding what the text refer to as “neighboring states”, and this applies also to men wed to Syrian or Palestinian refugees in an aim to prevent settlement, according to the current foreign minister. The statement went on to say that, such defenses are totally rejected, because the right and freedom to marry for both Lebanese men and women is a constitutional right. Naturalization is to grant Lebanese citizenship to any non-Lebanese, who is not related to the country from his/her mother’s or father’s side, whereas resettlement is an international political matter that is completely different from the individual constitutional rights of citizens, the statement explained. The above clause prevents the Lebanese man from passing nationality to his children if his spouse is a national of a neighboring country, which is unacceptable, because women demand equality with men to this effect. Moreover, the exception-paragraph did not specify exactly what is meant by “neighboring countries”, hence left it open to interpretation. LCW-My Nationality statement also pointed out that the draft proposal stems from a distinction between men and women to a distinction between a man married to any woman and another married to a neighboring country national, up to a distinction between a woman married to a foreigner and another wed to a national from a neighboring state. It did not determine the criteria to draw a line between he who entered Lebanon as a refugee or displaced and he who has long been living and investing in the country and married to a Lebanese. In conclusion, the statement asked: “Does the Lebanese State keep registers of the refugees or displaced citizens? Do we have to ask our Arab brothers not to marry Lebanese women?”. (An Nahar, March 27, 2018 )

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Widespread condemnation of chauvinists and discriminatory amendments of nationality law

26-3-2018

The draft amendment to the current nationality law proposed by foreign minister Jibran Bassil on Mother’s Day has drawn wide condemnation and resentment from concerned mothers, human rights groups and feminist and women’s associations. To recall, the said suggestion allows Lebanese women to pass nationality to their children, just like men, with the exception of spouses from “neighboring states”, and it also applies to Lebanese men married to refugees or displaced women (c.f: https://bit.ly/2pHk2lB ). In this respect, Zoya Ruhana, Kafa director, described as ‘xenophobic’ Bassil’s initiative for it endorses a racist attitude towards Palestinians and Syrians and discriminates between women themselves, as well as, between men and women. Ruhana told AShark Al Awsat newspaper that Bassil, instead of playing fair to women, treated both men and women unjustly. Similarly, former justice minister, Ibrahim Najjar, said the draft legislation violates the Constitution, as it discriminates between men and women and the nationality of those who marry. Legal expert, former MP Salah Hnein, maintained that the legal rule is one that has no exception nor discretion, and any other interpretation is dubbed racist. On the other hand, Al Diyar daily cited informed diplomatic sources as justifying the purpose of Bassil’s proposal to prevent naturalization and permanent resettlement. It also facilitates the affairs of Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese, except for neighboring countries, to avoid uncalled-for trouble and added burdens on the country. The exception-clause, Al Diyar analyzed, can be understood under the fears of settlement of Syrians and Palestinians, but it remains a matter to be debated and discussed before ratification. (Al-Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, March 22, 25, 2018) Previous related news: A discriminatory draft amendment to Lebanese nationality law https://bit.ly/2pHk2lB

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Mira Wakim, Najwa Azar, women candidates promote youth, women rights

26-3-2018

In its continuous support of women’s nomination for parliamentary elections, L’Orient Le Jour spotlighted the career life of the Kataeb Party’s candidate for Tyre-Zahrani district, Mira Wakim, and Najwa Azar running on Michel Murr’s Metn electoral list. Mira Wakim, pharmacy graduate, does not come from a political family, the newspaper wrote. She wanted to contribute to change, she said, but discovered that the only possible way to do this is to join a political party. Therefore, she chose the ranks of the Kataeb (phalangist party), which largely resembles her aspirations. Wakim went on to say that, her support to the Party was first limited to activities within the pharmacy specialty, but later in 2014, she became an official member of the party’s central committee. Her ambition to participate extensively in Kataeb services pushed her to run for elections, with the full backing of current leader, Sammy Gemayel. Her electoral program, she boasted, aims basically to support young people to find jobs in the country and prevent further emigration. Azar, on the other hand, is an internal medicine physician, from a family involved in public life and close to the Murr. Her father has served as the mayor of Aintoura for 40 years, which gave her the advantage of being closer to the people and to help them in her field of work, Azar told L’Orient Le Jour. In order to extend better public service, she decided to run for elections. Azar’s electoral program focuses mainly on women’s rights and on full access to health care. If she were lucky, Azar told L’Orient Le Jour reporter, she will have to work on the inclusion of the 30% women representation quota in Parliament, and to advocate for equal pay between men and women. (L’Orient Le Jour, March 24, 26, 2018)

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‘Something from Lebanon’ for rural women

26-3-2018

The women empowerment Blessing Foundation organized its annual event on Friday at Sursok Museum, Ashrafieh to promote new mentoring relations between women leaders in business and emerging women entrepreneurs under the patronage of the minister of state for women affairs, Jean Ogassapian, and in the presence of a large crowd of women activists. The gathering included the launch of ‘Something from Lebanon’ project aimed, according to Blessing founder, Rima Husseini, to encourage rural women to implement their creative and skilled design, artisan, craft, sewing, drawing and sculpture works and market them through above project. The event also saw testimonies from mentees which stressed the importance of the program which allows mentors to pass their experience and help beneficiaries benefit from the dynamism of the early startup years, identify their desired goals and overcome challenges to success. (Al Mustaqbal, March 24, 2018)

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