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Quebec's gender equality excludes Arab women

22-8-2017

The minister responsible for the status of women in the government of Quebec, Lise Theriault, unveiled earlier in July her government’s gender equality strategy in all fields of work, in jobs, decision-making positions, regions, social, economic and professional environments, including ethnic communities. The USD 80 million five-year plan, Theriault said, comes as part of the government’s support to achieve equality between men and women. She pointed out that currently, efforts center on the sectors migrant women suffer most in terms of marginalization, discrimination, racism and inequality. On the subject, Al Hayat newspaper reported yesterday that the strategy addressed only the gender equation imbalance in employment and relevant areas against a systematic discrimination based on ethnicity, color, culture, language, experience and other factors violating the principle of equality. Al Hayat wrote, that the Arab migrant woman or the Quebec woman from Arab origin has remained outside, for they can hardly be compared with Quebec women in terms of troubles they face in integration in the local labor market, high unemployment rates or low wages, despite their competency in academic achievement and professional experience. Al Hayat also drew attention to the statistical data published by the ministry of immigration and cultural communities for 2015-2016 which showed a real and deep crater between Arab and Quebec women at most levels. Accordingly, the average job prospects available to Arab working women stood at 33.5% against 56.7% for the Quebec women; the unemployment rate posted 19.7% against 6.5% and the monthly income of Arab expats did not exceed USD 1800 compared with USD 5192 for Quebec women. )Al Hayat, August 21, 2017(

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Traditional thyme “green gold” of Lebanese southerners

22-8-2017

In a special feature on thyme agriculture, Al Mustaqbal reported that the Nabatiyeh farmers in the South are busy picking the wild crop growing in holes between rocks and in the peripheries of towns or cultivated in greenhouses. Both varieties, the newspaper wrote, constitute a livelihood for farmers, where one kg of the zaatar (aromatic mix of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds) is sold at LBP 35,000. In the wake of the July 2006 Israeli War on Lebanon, an Italian non-government organization gave in-kind donations (plastic tents and herb seedlings) to grieved thyme growers in the towns of Yohmor, East and West Zawtar and Qaaqaiyat al Jisr to plant and irrigate in farmlands and produce two harvest seasons. Al Mustaqbal mentioned that some farmers who collect wild thyme work with cultivated herb growers in marketing the produce locally. There is a high demand on the crop, Abu Jibran Mohamad Jaber from Zawtar, told the newspaper’s reporter. He said he wakes up at dawn for the painstaking trip in search of wild thyme in order to sell it to the town’s inhabitants who usually stores it for eating or for making the popular Lebanese manakish (flatbread baked with thyme). Likewise, Mohamad Ulleik who owns 5 plastic tents close to Litani River, boasted that zaatar is the green gold of the South. “In one year, we reap around 500 kgs and sell them to wholesale dealers who in turn vend them to bakeries,” Ulleik said, demanding that the government stop the entry of Syrian and Jordanian thyme into Lebanon during the harvest season. Also, Sonya Jaber from Hamra who tends to a field planted with wild thyme, described this type of agriculture as ‘profitable’, but needs official support from the ministry of agriculture and the municipalities to sustain a decent living to low-income Lebanese households. (Al Mustaqbal, August 18, 2017)

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My Nationality is My Dignity at the foreign ministry

21-8-2017

The foreign minister Jibran Bassil proposed on Friday to a delegation of My Nationality is My Dignity Campaign the setting up of a special office that looks into cases currently eligible for Lebanese nationality pending a politically informed decision on the right of Lebanese mothers to pass citizenship to their children. The Campaign’s coordinator, Moustafa Chaar, pointed out that Bassil was responsive to the demand of the campaign which he considered a right of the Lebanese mother, as long as it does not conflict with the Constitution. “We agree with (the minister) and request the application of the Constitution,” Chaar maintained. (Al Diyar, August 19, 2017)

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Gender equality missing in labor market, according to ILO

21-8-2017

The International Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that the rate of unemployment among women has exceeded men’s during 2015, reaching 41.6% for women aged 15 to 19 years against 18.3% for men of same age group. The ILO report released last week on challenges of youth employment and policies of several countries around the world to help young people find appropriate jobs, has indicated the unemployment rates among young people as follows: women (aged 20- 24 years) at 24.2%, women (aged 25-29 years) at 10.5%, compared with 12.9% and 6.2% respectively among men of the same age group. According to the report, the gap was even larger when examining the rates of youth from both genders who were either jobless or not in the process of learning or training. The reported rates were: 7.4% (women aged 15-19 years); 26.7% (women aged 20-24 years) and 40.6% (women aged 25-29 years), significantly beating respective 4.3%, 7.3% and 6.8% rates among men. In the economic sectors, the ILO report has shown that the overwhelming majority of employed young men and women (namely 91.2% of women and 81.1% of men), work in the services sector, followed by industry with a large margin (6.8% of women, 16.5% of men) and agriculture (2.0% women, 2.5% men). Excerpts from the ILO report were published in the weekly bulletin of Credit Libanais Bank. )Al Mustaqbal, August 20, 2017 (

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MP’s divided over pardoning the rapist

21-8-2017

In its analysis of the discussions during the August 16 legislative session on Article 522 of the Penal Code that exonerates the rapist should he marry his victim, the Legal Agenda made clear that the amendment by the Parliamentary Administrative and Justice Committee has excluded the crime of forced sex with a minor (aged between 15 and 18 years) by means of deception to marry the victim when it retained Articles 505 and 518. Displaying MPs viewpoints on the exception, the Legal Agenda noted that Ali Ammar, Nawwaf Mousawi, Imad Hout and Samir Jisr maintained that in the Personal Status laws there are certain tenets that cannot be disputed, while the House Speaker explained that under Muslim personal status laws marriage is approved if the guardian of the minor consents to it. On the opposite front, MPs Sammy Gemayel, Alan Aoun, Boutros Harb, Elie Kayrouz and Jean Ogassapian turned down the exception stating that it condones underage marriages (under 18 years). Elie Kayrouz who submitted the amendment said that it did not meet his ambition in this regard, pressing for revoking the Article without exclusions. In the same vein, the president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), Claudine Aoun Roukoz, stressed during a meeting last Thursday with President Michel Aoun and PM Saad Hariri that repeal of Article 522 has not achieved its sought after purpose as its effects remain under Articles 505 and 518. She called for the modification of all legislations to the effect of protection of underage girls from violence in its physical and moral forms. (for the full interventions made by deputies please visit the following link: http://legal-agenda.com/article.php?id=3867).Legal Agenda, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, August 17, 18, 2017)

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Sit-in near the Parliament to protest forced marriage of a raped woman to her rapist
 

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Seer Denniyyeh voted best village in Lebanon in OLJ competition

21-8-2017

The northern town of Seer Denniyyeh won the best preferred village in Lebanon in the ‘village prefere des Libanais’ competition launched by L’Orient Le Jour (OLJ) in partnership with Fransabank, Suk el Tayyeb and LiveLoveBeirut initiative. The 10 contestant villages shortlisted for their distinctive archeological, touristic and environmental features were:  Tanoorine (Batroon), Seer Denniyyeh (North), Qulaile (Tyre), Hasroon (Besharreh), Maaser el Shuf (Shuf), Tebnin (Bint Jbeil), Akoora (Jbeil), Bhamdoon (Aley), Beit Shabeb (Metn) and Anjar (Zahle). Each village or town displayed as well rare culinary, artisanal or traditional treasures. Commenting on the news, the mayor of Seer Denniyyeh, Ahmad Alam, said that while this victory has brought the village of Sir to the forefront as a touristic and media destination, it placed greater responsibility on the municipality in terms of rehabilitation and development of the town’s facilities to be able to accommodate projected visitors and holidaymakers. Likewise, the president of the Federation of Municipalities of Seer Denniyyeh, Mohamed Saadiyeh, pointed out that selecting Seer as the best town by the Lebanese constituted a cultural turning point that should be complemented by the government. The latter “should realize that despite the deliberate marginalization, deprivation and absenting the area from the development map, we managed to show the world the real image of Seer,” Sayadiyyeh boasted. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, August 20, 21, 2017)

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Student campaign in support of Akkar al 3ateeqa for the best town competition
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Touch promotes women empowerment in ICT

18-8-2017

The leading mobile telecommunications and data operator in Lebanon, managed by Zain Group, announced its partnership with Arab Women in Commuting (WIC) association as a major sponsor for its 5th Annual International conference. The latter, to recall was held between August 10-12 at the American University of Beirut with over 500 participants. (c.f http://bit.ly/2uWB14O:). Touch CEO, Emre Gurkan, said: “A strategy is never complete if it does not boast all its elements, and gender equality is a key element in our strategy.” Touch, he added, seeks to achieve this by providing equal opportunities for men and women and efforts to appoint more females in executive posts at Touch and Zain Group in general. “We embrace initiatives that support and promote women, particularly in the ICT domain,” Gurkan stated. For her part, the head corporate management officer at Touch, Rula Abu Daher, outlined her pioneering career life in communications, pointing to stereotypes that limit women and their capabilities in developing countries. In the telecom sector around the world, women occupy only 3% of senior positions, Abu Daher noted, stressing that more should be done to maximize prospects for women in the ICT sector based on their aptitudes. (Al Mustaqbal, August 18, 2017)

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Call for gender equality in inheritance in Tunisia steers controversy

18-8-2017

Several Tunisian religious bodies denounced the call by President Beji Caid Essebsi to amend inherence laws to allow equality between male and female and allow for marriage between a non-Muslim man and a Muslim women (c.f: http://bit.ly/2uWB14O). The call has instigated a rift in the country between seculars and conservatives regarding women’s rights and the status and role of faith in State and society. The scholars and professors of Sharia at Zaytouna University signed yesterday a petition rejecting Essebsi’s reform proposal. In this respect, former Grand Mufti Hamda Saeed warned in a press conference against interfering with the notion of inheritance as an established Islamic tenet. Such calls, Saeed said, are perilous, seditious and contrary to Islamic teachings. The statement signed by religious leaders, including a former minister for religious affairs, made clear that the president of the republic should not meddle with fixed precepts, noting that the conditions of inheritance are stipulated by God and so is interfaith marriage considered as a crime of adultery prohibited by the Sunnah. On the other front, human rights organizations expressed their backing for Essebsi’s initiative. In this respect, the head of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), Ahlam Belhaj, told al Hayat newspaper that the President’s adoption of the principle of equality in inheritance is a progressive step in the struggle for the rights of women. It is a necessity enforced by women's achievements in society she said. According to Al Hayat, two leaders affiliated with the chief of Ennahda Party, Sheikh Rashed Ghannouchi, consider that the Party, as a civil movement, is not concerned with responding to or commenting on religious issues, while others justify their rejection by the approval of Zaytouna sheikhs, the famous religious school in Tunisia. (Al Hayat, Al Akhbar, August 17 and 18, 2017)

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IDAL entrepreneurship workshop

18-8-2017

In cooperation with UNIDO, the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) inaugurated yesterday a 3-day workshop on the development of men and women entrepreneurs, as well as support of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The opening was held in the presence of IDAL's president, Nabil Itani, and president of the Arab International Center for Entrepreneurship and Investment (AICEI), Hashim Hussein, in addition to representatives of involved ministries, chambers and departments and UNIDO investment experts. The goal of the workshop, Itani stated, is to prepare competencies needed to identify, select, train, provide consultancy and support entrepreneurs to kick off their projects, in addition to inform participants on the process of planning and execution of institutional growth. Itani pressed the need to prop SMEs and to approach them in terms of enhancing the business climate, pointing that Lebanon is a key partner in the economic development process. He called for development of communities and transforming them from consumer to productive societies based on the resources, raw material and skilled labor at hand, as well as the availability of land. For his part, Hussein pointed out that currently the focus is on helping the youth realize their ideas and dreams, commending the distinctive application of the program in Lebanon as the first country to implement it via the chambers of commerce, to be later streamlined in other Arab states. (Al Diyar, August 18, 2017)

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Tobacco growing in South Lebanon deteriorating after being the main livelihood for dozens of households

17-8-2017

In its issue of today, Al Hayat newspaper featured tobacco culture in South Lebanon pointing to a decline from the past three decades in the cultivation of the crop particularly in the towns and villages of Jabal Amel. This agriculture constituted the basic livelihood for thousands of households before the Israeli invasion of 1978 and the displacement of the area’s inhabitants. The period designated the start of a gradual decline in tobacco growing which culminated in recent years to reach nearly 50%, according to Regie sources. The latter outlined a number of factors for the waning crop cultivation, namely the increasing cost on the farmer who was left alone when his children and family gave up on him and he was forced to hire workers for the job. Also, the soaring prices of pesticides, changing climate conditions and water scarcity forced tobacco farmers to buy water for irrigation, in addition to the degeneration of field soil in the wake of the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon. The Regie sources said that the increase in the production cost was not paralleled by an increase in demand on the crop from farmers. One Kg of fine quality tobacco, for example, is sold at LBP 15 thousand, that is by only LBP 2 thousand increase from the past 10 years. But despite the relinquishing of the cultivation by many southern households, yet many others are still involved in this traditional agriculture for lack of alternative sources of livelihoods. (Al Hayat, August 17, 2017)

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