UN Women yesterday launched a report entitled, ‘Seeking to achieve equality in rights and representation: Encounters with women nominated for parliamentary elections in 2018’. The launch was made during a meeting organized in partnership with ESCWA and UNDP under the slogan, ‘Pushing forward under the leadership of women in Lebanon and the Arab world’. On the above report, UN Women clarified in a statement that in late 2018 and early 2019, the Organization has talked to around 75 women candidates for the parliamentary elections of 2018. Around 89% of them mentioned that their priority, in the event of winning, will focus on pushing forward with reform in the area of women’s rights, followed by the rights of youth and combating corruption, the statement said. In addition, the report showed that the majority of them were nominated as independents or on the civil society electoral lists. Nearly 68% of them, also according to the report, are politically experienced, younger and better educated compared to their male counterparts. Female candidates faced many challenges, notably financial constraints, and a difficulty in exposure on local media, as well as gender-based discrimination, the UN Women statement concluded. Likewise, the head of the Organization in Lebanon, Rachel Dore-Weeks, explained that in light of the calls for new elections, it is crucial to figure out how to overcome the existing gender barriers on the institutional, legal and social levels, which prevent equal representation of women in decision making and in politics. (NNA, February 25, 2020)
