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The Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA) organized on Wednesday a panel entitled ‘creation of jobs for young men and women in retail sector’. The discussion saw the participation of the heads of LFA, Charles Arbid, and the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers and Employees, Bishara  Asmar, the labor ministry director general, George Ida, the head of the Syndicate of Owners of Hypermarkets, Nabil Fahed, and a number of interested people. In his opening words, Arbid stressed the need for coordination between employers, the labor union, the productive sectors and the labor ministry to promote socio-economic dialogue with a view to reach incentives for production and investment, on the one hand, and strengthen solidarity and social cohesion, on the other. For his part, Asmar underlined an urgency for a legislative transformation, pointing that political stability and serious discourse are essential to prepare the groundwork required to improve conditions and protect rights of employees and workers. Similarly, Ida maintained that the retail sector necessitates a special policy and a modern labor bill to replace the current outdated one which no longer meets the needs and aspirations of laborers. Fahd, on the other hand, revealed that more than 70% of job seekers in supermarkets are university and school students looking for temporary work, wondering, “what are we waiting for to enact a law that gives due regard to the circumstances of those youth,” as he said. (Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, May 25, 2017)

The Higher Relief Council centres in a number of areas have witnessed chaos and uproar by dozens of apple growers who flocked to receive what they termed as random, meager and disappointing compensation delivered by HRC staff who were late for their appointments. In this respect, the premises of the Federation of Baalbaq Municipalities witnessed deafening rumble and stampede by reportedly 1100 farmers heading to the premises to get their cheques, to discover later that compensation payments did not exceed LBP 1000 instead of LBP 5000 per apple carton as promised. One farmer, Jaafar Jaafar, described what happened as a ‘humiliating act on part of the government’, while the Mukhtar of Ainata, Fuad Rahmeh, said it was ‘shameful to the Beqaa residents’. He appealed to the heads of the three branches of government by saying: “if you want to rip off the people, you have to spare them in order to guarantee something would be left to pilfer.” For his part, the president of the Lebanese Farmers Association, Antoine Howayek, blasted the government, reiterating his demand to be handed over a copy of the Army surveys filed to the HRC. On this, informed sources told An Nahar newspaper that the finance ministry has pledged to transfer the second and final instalment of compensation, (LBP 20 billion), to the HRC on May 20th, and Howayek remained steadfast in his warning to the government. “The protest of farmers is subject to said transfer, otherwise, taking on the streets will become automatic,” he said. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, May 19 and 20, 2017)

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In the latest on domestic violence in Lebanon , the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) noted yesterday that the Syrian girl I’tidal (3 years) was subject to beating by her step mother, rejecting the latter’s account which claims that the girl has been beaten up by her 2-year-old brother! The ISF statement said, that the results of investigation by Junieh Judiciary Police Unit and the victim’s forensic examination have shown the girl suffered a severe blow to her head and had bruises all over her body, but that her overall health condition was intact. The father and his wife were arrested and the children handed over to their uncle as mandated by the competent judiciary. In another heartbreaking episode, the town of Barja in the Shuf was a scene to a horrific crime. In the news, an Ethiopian migrant domestic worker repeatedly stabbed her employer in her final weeks of pregnancy using a knife.  The victim was rushed to hospital in serious condition. After committing her crime, however, the Ethiopian worker tried to throw herself from the balcony, but was stopped by the neighbors who handed her over to the security forces.  The alleged perpetrator later after cutting her wrist artery. In a related vein, the Criminal Court of Beirut set the sentencing hearing for July 4 in the case of killing of child Celene Rakan. The court is expected to clarify some incoherent facts which accompanied the case and conflicting accounts over the murder. The family accuses the migrant worker Bouzai with the murder, while the latter relentlessly denies it, and has repeated that when asked about her final request before closing the trial. (Al Mustaqbal, May 24, 2017)

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The minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, opened yesterday at Beirut-based ESCWA House a conference entitled, ‘women’s work: towards gender-sensitive public policies”, organized by his ministry, in cooperation with the UN Information Center in Beirut (UNIC) and SMART Center for Media and Advocacy. In his address, Ogassapian clarified the purpose of the decision to declare a special day for women, which is to carry out the government’s commitment towards rights of women. He said the idea of the annual celebration rallies around the creation of a pressure movement across all arenas in Lebanon, including the staging of sit-ins and demonstrations to the end of stimulating society as a whole to participate in achieving those rights. This, he explained, involves realizing women’s presence in political life and within institutions, because of the anticipated positive outcomes, mainly gender mainstreaming and increasing national productivity. The minister indicated that he will ask the Council of Ministers to change the date of the ‘Lebanese Women’s Day’ from November 4th  as previously decided to March 8th , so as to coincide with International Women’s Day. In conclusion, Ogassapian pressed the need to move from discourse to the realization of women’s rights in order to create a momentum that can enforce demands, and persuade politicians and parties to believe in, and, use or benefit from the resources Lebanese women boast. (Al Mustaqbal, May 24, 2017)

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