News

As part of the MENA oriented investment projects funded by the US Agency for International Development USAID, the Insure Match Capital (IM Capital) fund to support entrepreneurship in Lebanon launched recently its Seeders Masterclass for Business Angels (Seeders- MBA) program targeting individual investors. The event took place in the presence of the USAID director in Lebanon, Dr. Ann Paterson, and the participation of government representatives, business owners and entrepreneurs, investors, bankers, representatives of the private sector and involved associations, as well as deans of universities and members of chambers of commerce and business incubators. The initiative, the first of its kind in Lebanon, aims at providing technical assistance and support and improve access to finance, competitiveness and revenue growth for small and medium enterprises and startups. This helps in the empowerment of developing companies as per the creation of business opportunities, hence ensuring their sustainable social development and promoting economic growth of the nation. The selected group of investors are expected to hold a meeting every 6 to 8 weeks during which 2 or 3 SMEs will present an idea. By the end of the program, investors would have financially supported 3 to 4 ventures by pumping in projects USD 50 to 100 thousand for each. On the occasion, IM Capital general director, Dr. Nicolas Ruhana, made clear that the yearly program is anticipated to grow seeds of an informed and effective investors’ community that will eventually become an independent player in the Lebanese entrepreneurship arena. The World Bank also contributed to the program which is to be repeated every year. (Al Diyar, July 14, 2016)

 

Following the monstrous recent assault against an underage girl from Akkar (http://bit.ly/29I4W9t), As Safir daily analyzed, in its edition of today, Lebanon’s official approach to sex crimes, mainly rape, criticizing the relaxed and soft attitude of the law, the justice system and spiritual leaders towards the issue. While recalling the law related to domestic violence, the newspaper stated that while the law did not observe marital rape as a criminal offense, it only incriminated the physical injury resulting from the act after it has been medically confirmed. In this respect, As Safir focused on Article 522 of the Penal Code of the year 1943, which provides for exemption of the rapist from punishment if he married his victim, and described it as the mother of all evils. The said article, it should be noted, tackles the subjects of rape, deflowering a virgin, kidnapping, sexual harassment, forced sexual intercourse and exploiting the vulnerability of the victim. The newspaper also brought up the domestic violence related law, namely Article 503 of the Penal Code, which supports the punishment to a minimum five-year in hard labor, any person who forces a woman, who is not his wife, to sexual intercourse by use of violence or intimidation. For coercing the wife is perceived as normal from the religious perspective, the newspaper went on to say, and is exhausted by the Lebanese legislator to expedite penalizing the acts of rape. In a related vein, Human Rights Watch issued a statement on Tuesday which read: ‘Dignity Debased: Forced Anal Examinations in Homosexuality Prosecutions”. The report recorded incidences, over the past five years, of men and women who were forced to undergo anal and vaginal tests, in addition to cases of sexual assaults  of women accused of homosexuality, in at least 8 countries, including Lebanon. The organization considered such tests, “which lack evidentiary value, as a form of cruel, demeaning and inhuman treatment or an act of punishment that could reach, in some incidents, plain torture.” According to the report, the victims who were forced to undergo anal examinations stated that the tests were painful and humiliating, and some described them as one form of sexual violence. The report was based on interviews with 32 men and woman transsexuals in each of Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda and Zambia. (As Safir, L’Orient Le Jour, July 13, 2016)

For full report, please check: (https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/12/dignity-debased/forced-anal-examinations-homosexuality-prosecutions)

 

Some of the local media yesterday, unknowingly or knowingly, were complicit in the act of rape committed by three young men against a minor girl from Tripoli, when they exposed the identity of the victim without consulting with her in a society whose traditions and norms condemn the victim in sensitive issues like this one. In the details, that three young men took turns in raping a 16-year-old orphan girl from Tripoli. The assailants seduced her and drove her from the house of her grandfather where she lives to Dahr el Ain in neighboring Kura, where they drugged, raped and filmed the girl to blackmail her. While keeping to herself in fear of reprehension, the underage girl finally decided to speak up to her aunt. The latter accompanied her to a gynecologist for examination and he confirmed the act of rape. The aunt reported the case to the Security Forces of Mina unit and news spread. Appallingly, some of the media aired the full name and address of the victim, which yet exacerbated the girl’s emotional trauma. The crime has rocked the northern city and the whole country, prompting an instant backlash on all the social media networks. Activists called for a sit-in at 5:30 pm tomorrow at the Justice Palace in Beirut with one main heading, ‘fight rape’. Similarly, civil associations and figures, notably the director of projects at the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering, lawyer Manar Zeaiter, demanded competent authorities to show zero tolerance towards the savage rapists, and to override Article 522 of the Penal Code. The latter, to recall, provides for dropping the personal and public rights of the rapist, in terms of ending the tracking, punishment or sentencing of the rapist should he decide to marry his victim. Zeaiter requested maximum penalty for the offenders and provision of the proper psychiatric treatment and social assistance for the girl victim . (As Safir, Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, July 12, 2016)

 

The minister of tourism, Michel Pharaon launched yesterday so-called ‘Favorite Village’ competition during a press conference held at the ministry, in the presence of Ziad Makhul, the editor of the event’s sponsor, L’Orient Le Jour daily. Makhul pointed out that the newspaper adopted the idea of the project which was first brought up by a colleague and was presented to and approved immediately by the tourism ministry for implementation. Makhul clarified that villages have been nominated for three consecutive years, 10 names for each year and the Lebanese are invited to vote for their favorite one accordingly. The contestant villages for this year’s title are: Old Akkar, Dhoor Chweir, Duma, Ehden, Hammana, Rashayya, Kfrazebian, Sarafand and Yammooneh. Voting will start on July 23 and will close on August 6 and the winner village will be announced on August 8. On the subject, Pharaon underlined the vitality of the undertaking which is associated with the larger ‘rural tourism’ initiative launched recently by his ministry. Pharaon stressed that the beauty criterion is highlighted for a bigger aim which is the creation of jobs for inhabitants and boosting their steadfastness to their land. It also aims to preserve the heritage and sites that are sometimes violated in terms of disrespect to the environment and relevant laws. Such projects that map the country’s different regions, the minister maintained, can draw attention to traditional villages and the guesthouses they embrace.” Around 100 guesthouses in Lebanon are now recorded, with nearly 100% rate of occupancy during the period from May to October. Pharaon finally mentioned that the rural tourism sector, which in the past represented 5% to 6% of the overall tourism industry, now occupies about 8.5% expected to reach 20% in five years. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, July 12, 2016)

 

On the World Population Day coinciding on July 11 of each year, KAFA, Enough Violence and Exploitation organization launched yesterday a video highlighting the issue of early marriage in Lebanon in order to pressure for setting up a minimum official age of marriage. The video was produced in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, which chose the theme for this year to be ‘Investing in Girls’. The video complements KAFA’s earlier campaign ‘An Archaic Law is not a Serious Law’ launched back in December, 2015, in allusion to the current patriarchal laws regulating personal status which are discriminatory against women and children. Through the above video, KAFA sheds light on the conflicting nature of the notion of ‘legal age’ as perceived by the Lebanese legislator. For while recognizing the ineptitude of girls under 18 years in committing to contractual agreements (obligation of law and contracts), or to drive a car (traffic law), there are no legislations that regulate the age of marriage of girls. As such, a girl under 18 years is disqualified from one perspective, but yet could be eligible to raise a family!! Girls screened in the video tape have demanded setting the minimum age for marriage, particularly in the absence of clear laws that prohibit the marriage of children, and also because personal status provisions are manipulated by confessional systems that seem relaxed and tolerant towards the issue of early marriage. The video ended with the motto, ‘at this age, I don’t want to be called mama’. For her part, the press officer at KAFA, Maya Ammar, presented the solution to the dilemma, which as she maintained, is “to approve and enforce among all religious communities a civil personal status law that sets the age of 18 as the minimum age for marriage,". (Al-Akhbar 12 July 2016)

For more on the video, please refer to the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6q-FK8RWWM ;

 

Prickly pear growers in the southern border area are eagerly awaiting the implementation of the campaign launched recently by the agriculture ministry to control the widespread cochineal insect (Dactylopius Opuntiae) harming their orchards. During the past five years, to note, nearly 90% of prickly pear cultivations in the different regions, particularly the border zone, were damaged. The Agricultural Scientific Research Department at the ministry of agriculture, Hasbayya Office, has been working for months to produce the natural insect known as Cryptolaemus beetles and scatter them over the infected prickly pears. The campaign is carried out under the supervision of the head of the laboratory for Biological Control, Elie Rmeili, with the help of relevant foreign research labs and experts. Prickly pear farmers in the towns of Kfarshouba, Kfarhamam, Maree, Majidiyeh, Halta and Wazzani have received nearly 100 thousand Cryptolaemus beetles and disseminated them over their plantations with the help of professionals. Another quantity of these insects is expected to be distributed to the remaining villages in Arqoob and Hasbayya districts. In expounding on the situation, one farmer, Samir Youssef described it as catastrophic, particularly that it deprived plant growers of a substantial production in the past five years, with annual losses reaching LBP one to five million. He grieved that some 2800 families who depend on these crops for their livelihood were largely affected. Another farmer, Abu Hassan Hmeid expressed doubt over the success of the above campaign, saying he has to wait for what the coming weeks will deliver. (As Safir, July 11, 2016)

 

The President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Workers and Employees in Lebanon, Saad el Din Hamidi Saqr revealed a rise in unemployment rate to 37% contrary to what is widely believed (22 to 25%) percentage. Hamidi Saqr who was speaking to Al Markaziya electronic portal on Friday, pointed out that all the presented solutions do not match the size of the disaster, but commended efforts made by labor minister, Sajaan Azzi, in this direction. Hamidi Saqr indicated that “the response to the crisis cannot be divided but rather should be all-inclusive and collaborative between all the involved ministries, committees and unions, particularly that a part of the problem is the product of the increasing number of Syrian refugees,” as he claimed. In this context, Hamidi Saqr mentioned the frequent appeals made by the general trade union to this effect and called on the concerned economic bodies and business owners to show more support to Lebanese workers instead of recruiting what he termed  “relatively cheap foreign labor, notably from Asia, or displaced Syrian nationals.” He stressed the need to combine efforts to address the situation, warning that the upsurge in the number of unemployed persons in the country is an indicator of a serious social crisis that should be placed as a priority on the table of discussion of the Cabinet. (Al Diyar, July 9, 2016)

 

 

On the occasion of Ramadan and Al Fitr Holidays, the marketplace of Ain El Helweh Palestinian Camp in Saida reopened on June 30th as part of a renewed effort by the local community and popular committees, the committee of market traders and the farmer’s market, and aiming at creating a safe market for the Camp inhabitants away from the recent security tensions resulting from the recent skirmishes and which largely impacted the trade activity. Likewise, Camp traders confirmed that the current relatively stable conditions within Ain El Hilweh have contributed to the revival of the popular marketplace, while noting that the market bustle is facilitated by Camp residents only, including more than 100 thousand refugees who fled from neighboring Syria. The commercial market committees also announced in a statement their intention to give a new lease of life to shopping within the Palestinian Camp during the Eid days. To note, that the Ain El Helweh commercial market which hosts tens of shops and clothing stores, boasting cheap prices for their merchandise, was also a popular destination for customers flocking from Saida and suburbia before the latest armed clashes. (As Safir, July 1, 2016)