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English

Claudine Aoun in favor of civil laws to address gender imbalances

3-8-2017

The head of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), President Michel Aoun’s Special Aide, Claudine Aoun Rookoz, confirmed yesterday to a delegation from Kafa, Enough Violence and Exploitation, that a draft bill on domestic violence prepared by NCLW will soon be referred to the Cabinet. Joint efforts, Aoun said, should be channeled to unify visions to enhance the development of civil laws that will address the imbalance in the current personal status law, and lift injustice on women and minors. Aoun also stressed to a delegation of My Nationality is My Dignity Campaign which visited her at the Presidential Palace, that NCLW will devote special attention to the law which gives mothers the right to grant nationality to their children on a par with men, while taking into account the distinct the ‘Lebanese condition’ as she said. Aoun pledged to study the subject of granting children from a Lebanese mother the right to permanent residence in the country. On the other hand, ABAAD organization presented in a press conference yesterday the results of its campaign, ‘A white dress does not cover up rape, undress 522’ to abolish Article 522 of the Penal Code. ABAAD categorically rejected any reconciliatory attempts or concessions on women’s rights in the country. During the conference, MP Elie Kayrouz mentioned that the Lebanese Forces has earlier in 2016 submitted a proposal to fully revoke the article but to no avail. (Al Mustaqbal, August 3, 2017)

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Regretfully straw chair craft disappearing in Saida

3-8-2017

In its issue of today, Al Mustaqbal newspaper brought to light the making of straw chairs in Saida, with a special focus on the Kuusa family atelier located on the water front of the southern capital facing the fish market. The artisan studio, Al Mustaqbal wrote, attracts passersby with its distinctive chairs, antiques, traditional engraving items, as well as, tents and curtains beautifully handmade from a merge of wood, straw and bamboo by skilled craftspeople. What distinguishes the Kousa family, and other families of artists still working in the craft, is their reliance on manual labor, while employing primitive tools, such as saws, from time to time, Al Mustaqbal said. The traditional trade which stayed alive in specialized stores in Old Saida district, is now threatened with extinction if it does not receive the proper official and cultural support by encouraging people to decorate their homes with heritage pieces. The newspaper pointed out that artisan families have demanded placing the traditional craft studios on the local tourism map in Saida and Lebanon to contribute to the development and restoration of the sector, thus preserving it as a cultural heritage and identity of the city and, at the same time, sustain a livelihood resource for many families. (Al Mustaqbal, August 3, 2017)

Previous related news:
Traditional straw chair weaving, rapidly vanishing in Tripoli
Baysoor women to revive straw weaving craft
 

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Lebanon starts the process of accession to the Silk Road Chinese initiative

2-8-2017

The Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Kijian, announced last week that Lebanon will start procedures of accession to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Kijian who was speaking during a reception at the Phoenicia Hotel in honor of the Lebanese who completed training sessions in China, said there is great potential and broad prospects for Chinese-Lebanese cooperation as part of the Silk Road initiative. Human resources, Kijian noted has become a key pillar in bilateral partnership. Over 900 Lebanese experts from the disciplines of economics, politics, culture and the military, participated in the training courses in China since 2011, Kijian said. Besides the short-term or bilateral workshops, the Chinese government also offers diploma programs, Kijian said, noting that the Chinese universities providing such courses are highly-competitive boasting the best professors. Kijian predicted the number of beneficiaries from Lebanon to reach 170 participants in 2017, in addition to 4 specialized bilateral courses in economic development, trade and investment, food safety testing, oil and gas exploration and other fields. (Al Mustaqbal, July 27, 2017)

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Will Lebanon succeed in joining the new world silk road?
Tripoli Economic Zone awaits funding, port getting ready for Syria reconstruction
 

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Regression of Lebanese industrial exports triggers renewed calls for protectionism

2-8-2017

A report prepared by the industry ministry has shown a 6.7% decline in Lebanese industrial exports during the first four months of 2017, dropping to USD 806.9 million against USD 865 million during the same period of 2016 and USD 967.4 million (by 16.6%) in 2015. According to the report, chemical industries topped the list of exports in April of this year, standing at USD 45.7 million, followed by agro-food industries (USD 44 million) and electric equipment (USD 36.1 million). Arab countries were the main market destination for made-in-Lebanon goods during April, with exports reaching USD 108.6 million (accounting for nearly 51.6% of the total industrial exports), the report indicated. Europe came second (about 15.9%), followed by the non-Arab African countries (11.3%) and countries of Americas (10.3%). An Nahar newspaper mentioned that the president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association (LIA), Fadi Gemayel, had proposed earlier in May a set of measures to protect specific products against illegal competition from foreign goods. But despite the fact that some of these industries do not directly affect disadvantaged communities, An Nahar cautioned that, yet certain items, food in particular, (burghul, sugar, pasta, cheeses, milk, biscuits, flour, cornflakes and chicken), may be drastically effected in the event of price hikes. For its part, LIA argued that the protective procedures will definitely lead to lower prices in the local market as a result of increased productivity of factories and lower production costs. (An Nahr, Al Mustaqbal, August 2, 2017)

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Lebanon may resort to trade barriers to safeguard its industry from external dumping
 

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Jordan repeals law which allows rapist to marry his victim

2-8-2017

After a heated session yesterday, the Jordanian Parliament voted to repeal Article 308 of the Penal Code which allows a rapist to evade criminal prosecution in the event of marrying his victim. The victorious vote which comes after years of human rights campaigning, needs to be ratified by the Upper House (majlis al a’ayan) under King Abdullah. According to Al Akhbar newspaper, the civil society, parties and progressive political factions have joined forces in their demand to abolish above article which shielded the perpetrator and condemned the rape survivor. Such alleged marriage is a void contract lacking free consent, they said. On the other hand, Al Akhbar wrote, supporters of the scrapped article favor amendment of the text by completing the marriage if the victim (aged between 15 and 18 years) consents to it. The Jordanian society, they argued, is still dominated by tribal mindsets, which prefer the ‘cover-up’ way out through compromise with the victim’s family. They accused certain foreign-supported organizations of manipulation to impose their agendas through imported solutions that are not commensurate with society's values. (Al Akhbar, August 2, 2017)

 

Previous related news:
Ogassapian praises Jordan for scrapping article allowing rapist to escape punishment
Sit-in near the Parliament to protest forced marriage of a raped woman to her rapist
 

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100 vacancies available for Lebanese nationals in Qatar

2-8-2017

The leading job site in the Middle East, Bayt.com, disclosed that more than 100 new vacancies will be announced within the next few months from the London-based Harvey Nichols department store planning to open in the Qatari capital in September. The luxury store is on the lookout for talented personnel from Lebanon to help them kick off their careers. Bayt.com pointed out that all the jobs will be posted on their portal, and they include sales, beauty consultants, warehouse attendants, visual merchandisers, personal shoppers and others. Job hunters can explore and apply for any of these vacancies on Bayt.com anytime and for free. On the subject, the Vice President of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com, Suheil Masri, described the partnership as exciting, noting that the portal continuously seeks to assist job seekers to find the unique career opportunities that match their potentials and expertise. “We are proud to work with Harvey Nichols Doha to help them find the perfect employees on our job site, as well as, to introduce additional career prospects to our registered job seekers in Lebanon,” Masri said. (Al Mustaqbal, August 2, 2017)

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Bikini against extremists in Algeria

1-8-2017

Algeria has been a scene of a ‘bikini revolution’ led by feminist groups in the face of mounting religious extremism sparked by a number of MPs and proliferated through social networking messages advising women to observe a certain dress code at the beach, Al Akhbar reported today. This move takes women’s right to swim freely and gaily on beaches as a way to resist Islamist conservatism (ISIS style), Al Akhbar said. To recall, a group of young feminist activists set out a hashtag via social media named ‘republican baths’ asking women (and their supporters of men) to carry out large gatherings of bikini swimsuits in defiance to the anti-swimwear Islamist fanatic onslaught on the country since the month of Ramadan. According to Al Akhbar, the bikini operation which took off from the town of Annaba in north east Algeria to coincide with the country’s National Day on July 5 spread like wildfire attracting more than 3 thousand women and men activists across Algeria. Dozens of similar revolutionary baths were organized in Annaba, Wahran and the capital. The movement is expected to culminate on August 7 in one of the largest gatherings within the ‘Colors Festival’, held annually at the famous beach of Tichy in the Amazigh tribal region, Al Akhbar concluded. (Al Akhbar, August 1, 2017)

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Festival in Aqura to promote tourism and to preserve traditional apple growing

1-8-2017

The people of Aqura celebrated last Saturday the first of its kind fun and recreational ‘apple festival’ aimed at encouraging farmers to keep up this traditional agriculture and promoting tourism in the area, according to festivity organizer, Alaa Hashem. Apple growing, Hashem lamented, has survived successive crises, namely in marketing due to the closure of borders with Syria and as a result of fierce foreign competition. On the occasion, agriculture engineer, Ghassan Feghali, pointed out that Lebanese apples are banned in some GCC states for failing to comply with standards set by these states, namely Dubai. Additionally, domestic apples in the local market face competition from imported produce, Feghali added.One of the main goals of the apple festival, he stressed, is inspiring Aqoura apple growers to cultivate enhanced varieties of the fruit. Similarly, the director of the festival, Nidal Hashem, said the event seeks to give hope to farmers especially that the price of one Kg of apples has dropped from LBP 1500 to LBP 300 in two years. (L’Orient Le Jour, August 1, 2017)

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Building capacity of municipalities and youth in the South and Beqaa

31-7-2017

In collaboration with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) and the Federation of Arkoub Municipalities, Tamaddon association organized a workshop entitled ‘Muncipal capacity building and conflict management’ in Ibl al Saqi, Marje3yoon. On the occasion, FNF head, Dirk Kunze, outlined the foundation’s concerted efforts aimed at providing know-how in capacity building and conflict management skills to uplift the development work and service provision of municipalities. Similarly, Ayman Trad, from the ministry of displacement affairs, said the region is in need of a comprehensive development plan in order to eradicate deprivation and marginalization. “The policy of mending is no longer useful and there is a pressing need to end injustice at all levels of infrastructure, including sewerage, drinking water as well as, schools and hospitals,” Trade said. In a parallel line, the Social Cultural Association in Beqaa, in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, held last Friday a workshop on the ‘capacity building of youth’ which saw the participation of over 30 young people from the North Beqaa (Arsal and Baalbak), the Center and West Beqaa and from Rashaya. The course covered the following topics: the art of leadership, conflict resolution, sustainable human development, with focus on the environmental part, advocacy, networking and mobilization. (Al Mustaqbal, July 30 and 31, 2017)

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Women of Nabatieh busy preparing traditional “mooneh”

31-7-2017

In its issue of today, Al Muthstaqbal newspaper shed light on the local tomato paste produced by the southern women of Arnoun and Kfartibnit in Nabatiyeh up to Kfar Roumman in Iqlima al Toffah. These women, Al Mustaqbal wrote, are busy these days preparing the traditional home-made and clean tomato paste or tomato juice, while the surplus is being sold locally and sometimes reaching as far as the capital, Beirut. Al Mustaqbal spoke to a number of women involved in preparation of mouneh items. One of these women, Samira Yaghi, said over 60 women produce tomato paste from the locally grown crops, noting that the extracted juice is stored for domestic consumption. The excess is sold at LBP 12,000 per one Kg to the agricultural cooperative association which takes care of its marketing at LBP 18 thousand. To recall, tomato paste is ultimately prepared from red ripe tomatoes cultivated lavishly in the villages and towns of Zawtar and Yuhmor up to Jbaa. Every 10 Kgs of the tomato fruit makes 1 kg of paste sold in the southern marketplace at between LBP 15,000 to 20,000, while the reported price of one kilo of tomatoes stands at LBP 500 to 700. (Al Mustaqbal, July 31, 2017)

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