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Al Fotowa Islamiya Association inaugurated yesterday its 26th annual handicraft fair, ‘Rawai’, at Al Ikhaa National School in the Patriarchate sponsored by Nazik Hariri, wife of late PM Rafik Hariri, who was represented by Huda Tabbara. The venue embraced 38 pavilions showcasing a collection of handicrafts and artisan works, gifts on the occasions of Mothers and Teachers Day, antique items, decorative objects, bedding and bed sets, wood works, embroideries, audio recordings, in addition to traditional mouneh products. During the opening ceremony, the head of Women’s Sector at the Association, Mounira Sahib, said the aim of the expo is to encourage women to promote their artisanal crafts. One beneficiary in this year’s event, Rida Katerji Khudr, described her participation as ‘successful’ as it contributes to promoting her handmade baskets of dates and dried fruits. She lauded the gains from similar undertakings which she said help build productive capacities and marketing skills of women artisans. For her part, Hiyam Bakr from Darb Al Wafaa association said the exhibition presents a real opportunity for marketing handmade items, noting that the association, involved with people with special needs, has contributed, and for the first year, in displaying bamboo and straw gadgets made by its members. The fair is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm and will last till March 20. On Sunday, March 19, a big charity bake sale bazaar will take place where proceeds are expected to go to relief purposes. (Al Mustaqbal, March 15, 2017)

  

 

On International Women’s Day, the US Embassy to Lebanon held a reception for the ‘honoring of Lebanese women in the judiciary and security’. The event which aims to shed light on the positive contribution of women in Lebanon in the areas of security and the law, was attended by US Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, the minister of interior, Nuhad Mashnuk and the minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, in addition to Internal Security Forces ISF members and representatives of involved international organizations. Richard pointed out, on the occasion, that “diversity in any institution strengthens it and promotes better performance.” The resilience of any society is measured not through its democratic component or material wealth, but rather “through the way it treats its women constituents,” Richard maintained. While the Lebanese civil strife has impeded and discouraged the enlisting of women in ISF, Richard said, yet the security apparatus has taken a bold step in 2012 by recruiting 90 females in its service, she added. Creativity is not an issue in the country, she maintained, and distinguished human resources are copious, especially among women, Richard expounded. For his part, Mashnuk hailed the role of women as a cornerstone in the foundation and advancement of society amidst a world gushing with the “macho model in the military in the East and West.” He stressed that while the number of women in the Cabinet and Parliament is not outstanding, you can find them everywhere in the security sectors” Mashnuk boasted. (Al Mustaqbal, March 15, 2017)

 

 

 

 

On the occasion of Mothers Day, My Nationality Is A Right For Me And My Family campaign announced that it will stage a sit-in this Sunday March 19, at 11:30 am, in Riad el Solh, Beirut. The purpose of the rally is to remind the authorities of the rights of Lebanese women to full citizenship through amendment and ratification of the current Nationality Law. The Campaign has posted the event on its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Lebanese-Womens-Right-to-Nationality-and-Full-Citizenship-144824882142/?fref=ts which read: ‘In the media they say one thing, and in the Parliament they do nothing. It is time to see your statements translated into an act of reform.’

 

The Ambassador of China to Beirut Jiang Jiang disclosed on Friday that his country is planning to revive the maritime silk road for the Twenty First Century. Kicking off from China to two destinations, one to Australia and another to Europe through South East Asia, the Road’s aim is to promote economic benefits for all countries situated along the road. Jiang’s statement came in a lecture he gave at the Doctorate Higher Institute at the state-run Lebanese University entitled ‘The Silk Road and the Economic Belt’. The Ambassador stressed the need to boost trade and human communication, as well as financial and banking cooperation among said nations similar to the ancient silk road which stood for economic interest and openness. He pointed out that some parties have proposed the above initiative that received positive feedback from the states along the belt. Jiang also mentioned that a Silk Road Fund and an investment bank have been established for this end. The plan, he said, constitutes a new platform for cooperation among involved states and serves developing nations on many levels as well. From the political side, Jiang noted, the Silk Road creates multiple poles as opposed to the notion of unilateralism in the World Order. It should be noted, . "It should be noted that President Aoun had held in January, a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhang Ming, where the dialogue between the two parties focused around common interests between the two countries, especially the "belt and road" initiative put forward by the Chinese President, willing that Lebanon contribute in it, also  the director of the Port of Tripoli, Ahmed Tamer, said, quoting an international maritime transport expert, that the facility is expected to play a pivotal role and to have a central economic de facto reality in the service of this road. (Al Mustaqbal, March 12, 2017)

 

 

 

 

 

A group of tobacco and tombac growers staged a sit-in in Baalbek yesterday to protest what they called official procrastination in paying off their entitlements, and the slowness of the payment process since out of a total of some 2000 farmers, only 20 to 30 farmers receive their dues every day. Tobacco farmers in the Beqaa region, it should be recalled, have decided to raise prices by 1% and up in anticipation of the ratification by the new government of the long sought for salary scale. Nevertheless, while state-controlled Regie Libanaise Des Tabacs Et Tombacs did not yet do the same. On the other hand, the minister of trade and economy, Raed Khoury, pledged that as of next Monday, his ministry will release the first batch of payment to farmers in the Beqaa area, (each batch is allotted to some 75 farmers) . The second batch will be assigned to the North and South regions, he explained, saying the value of compensation is nearly LBP 120 thousand per dunum. Khoury was speaking following a meeting on Friday with the director general of the Cereals and Sugar Beets Directorate, Hanna Amil, to discuss the demands of wheat farmers. Apple growers, for their part, are still in wait-and-see mode, as they have not received compensation for some 8 million crates, and they are planning a visit to PM Saad Hariri in order to follow up on to the decision by former government to pay LBP 5000 in compensation per each apple crate. (Al Diyar, March 11 and 14. 2017)

  

 

 

In an attempt to revive reading and books, be it on paper or electronically, a number of women in Saida created a literary salon to operate as a regular monthly book club. On the subject, Al Mustaqbal newspaper talked to a member of the above salon, Safaa Makawi, who disclosed that the idea originated back in 2010 among educated women who chose a book to read every month. The idea then developed into a regular book club when these women started to read from the abode of their homes and meet to discuss the novel or book they read, Makawi boasted. She said a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Bookclubsaida/?hc_ref=SEARCH was launched with a hashtag literary salon and another one on twitter bearing the name ‘together we read’. Readers and book lovers use these e-platforms to communicate and exchange views on every new book release, Makawi said, noting that the literary salon has become the inspiration for many similar projects in the southern city. The purpose of the initiative, she explained, is not recreational, but rather a conduit of the passion for reading. Members, she noted, are mostly professional women, including dentists, lab specialists, business women, trainers, pharmacists, as well as housewives or retired employees. (Al Mustaqbal, March 14, 2017)

  

 

 

 

Last weekend witnessed further activities in celebration of the International Woman’s Day. Under heavy rain, a civil march was organized on Saturday in Beirut with the participation of nearly 2000 feminist and young activists, demanding the endorsement of a number of laws for fostering women’s rights. In the same vein, Kataeb Party launched its first day forum for woman under the banner ‘rights, partnership, parity’ during which Kataeb President Sami Gemayel announced that his party submitted a law proposal to exempt all Lebanese women wishing to run for elections from candidacy fees. The exemption, which includes as well the electoral insurance, should cover the Parliamentary, municipal and mukhtar elections for 2 rounds of fees. Moreover, Haigazian University organized a ceremony in honor of 4 women pioneers in social and professional areas, while Bank of Beirut and the Arab World (BBAC), and for the third successive year, offered a special package of banking services targeting women . Similarly, the Arab Women’s Council, held the Arab Woman Festival to honor a number of outstanding female entrepreneurs, while The American University for Science and Technology (AUST) in Halat, launched the first meeting hub for women of society. For its part, the Lebanese Council for Women (LCW) opened its 9th conference entitled, ‘one stop on the road of a long struggle for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women: a political, social and economic reform, building the civil democratic state’. Similar events, included a ceremony by Ramgafar Party under the patronage of minister of state for administrative development, Inaya Ezzideen, who hailed efforts by Armenian women to bring up active and skilled (men) artisans, professionals and innovators! Finally, the Bsharri-branch of the Lebanese Forces organised a seminar on the occasion entitled “a new step towards social justice”. (Annahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, Al Hayat, L’Orient le Jour, 11,12,13 March 2017)

 

A mother of three from Tripoli joined on Friday the unfortunate convoy of victims of domestic violence. Rayan Iaali was hit by her husband with a rock on her head and died after 30 days in coma at the Nini Hospital in the northern capital. (the news: http://bit.ly/2mi21Xs). To note, the culprit is still in detention and has been referred on 5/2/2017 to the Appellate Prosecutor awaiting his trial.  (An Nahar, Al Akhbar, March 11, 2017)

 

 

In an interesting article today, Al Hayat newspaper highlighted the flourishing offshore work sector that is attracting a greater number of young people. Youth tend to give up on the more traditional job security in the interest of a better quality of life and a substantial margin of freedom, Al Hayat wrote. Prospects for offshore work, work at home and steady freelancing are gushing, particularly in creative industries, such as writing, translation and interpretation, editing, graphics, website design, programming, marketing and data entry, in addition to the civil society and community work sectors. Al Hayat mentioned that this type of work allows employers and business owners to expect high quality services from experts without commitment to long term contracts, work insurance, office supplies expenses and related running costs. A director of one of the local NGOs for refugees and marginalized communities explained to Al Hayat that he prefers to use the services of a remote interpreter and an ad or poster designer for better output rather than delving into the process of recruitment of a full time employee who might laze around when his/her assignment is done. A human resources employee, Hazim, pointed out to the newspaper that the working world is heading more and more towards freelancing and online opportunities with the growing number of specialized e-portals that promote this kind of work. The idea which originated in the West, Hazim explained, has found its way into Arab countries year after year, albeit for limited types of jobs. (Al Hayat, March 13, 2017)

                                                                                                   

 

In the first step of its kind, and in concurrence with the International Women’s Day, Iceland announced that it will apply an equal pay law on all private and public sector companies across the nation in a pledge to close wage gap by the year 2022. The Icelandic government reasserted that it will be submitting a draft legislation to the Parliament this moth requiring all companies with more than 25 employees to prove they pay equally for employees for the same work, regardless of the color, race and gender. The projected law will come into effect early next year. Commenting on the above move, Iceland’s social affairs and equality minister, Thorsteinn Viglundsson disclosed that companies rejected the law at all levels, yet they called it a matter of necessity to close the gender gap at the workplace. “Equality is a fundamental human right,” said Viglundsson. It should be noted, that Iceland imposes a 40% women representation quota at the level of boards of directors on companies with more than 50 employees. This Nordic country is on top of world countries for gender equality according to the World Economic Forum Wage Gap Index. Nevertheless, Icelandic women still earn 14% to 18% less than men. (The Huffington post Canada 8 March 2017) 

 

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