News

The Daily Star published a report about Lebanese women in the workforce, pointing out that even though women continue to outnumber men in higher education, they are still underrepresented in the workplace due to many factors namely, social norms, discrimination by employers and an inhospitable economy. The report noted that the most recent World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Gender Gap Report issued in October 2014, found that only 26 percent of women in working-age are in the workforce in Lebanon, compared to 76 percent for men. Some 70 percent of working women are in the services industry, and there are few women legislators, senior officials and managers.  Another study conducted by the Collective for Research and Training on Development – Action (CRTD.A) on women in the labor force in Lebanon found that social norms limited women’s professional activity and some women preferred to stay at home, rather than fulfill career aspirations. The report also noted that the law and the economy play a factor in making the labor market a suitable environment for women, noting that many current labor laws are discriminatory to women.
In addition to the above, economist Muna Khalaf, told the newspaper that entering the labor force comes with its own set of difficulties, where women have too many consideration before accepting a job such as the flexibility of the work, the proximity of the workplace to home and the availability of day care centres, in addition to the fact that priority in hiring is given to men in general. For his part, Nassib Ghobril, a senior economist at Byblos Bank, believed that Lebanon has many capable women in the labor force, and questioned the methodology that had been used in the WEF’s mentioned report. Economist Kamal Hamdan said that the main issue was that the Lebanese economy did not create jobs that were suitable for highly educated women, noting that, 70 percent of investment in Lebanon is going to the construction sector which does not provide jobs for highly educated graduates, who were mostly women.
Source: The Daily Star 8 December 2014

The Groact association organized a round table discussion yesterday entitled “how do clubs, associations, and cooperatives benefit financially and in-kind from relevant ministries?”  The event included the participation of Joseph Saadallah representing the General Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Abir Qassiss representing the General Director of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Jamal Qusta representing cooperatives’ association, as well as Rony Lahoud, Chairman and General Manager at the Public Corporation for Housing.
The discussion started with a keynote address by the president of GROACT, George Tannus who outlined the objectives of his organization which seeks to mobilize young people and encourage the creation of associations and clubs.  Qusta explained for her part the ways in which the general directorate of cooperatives helps in training and capacity building, while Qassiss spoke about the departments and directorates within the Ministry of Social Affairs and explained their roles and contributions.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 9 December 2014

The ILO issued its new report on pay last week during which it revealed that women are still paid less than men for similar work done and in all the 38 countries covered by the report despite the fact that they surpass men in terms of education, experience and productivity. The report noted that the highest gender gap is in the USA where women are paid USD 64.20 for every USD 100 paid to men.  The report added that the gender gap in pay in the USA may be attributed to other factors such as differences in productivity, education, and/or experience.  However, this does not apply to Europe, Russia, and Brazil where women supersede men in all these factors but the gender gap in pay remains.  The report further added that in many European countries, women should be paid 0.9% more than men, but, instead, they are actually paid 18.9% less.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Nahar 9 December 2014

The media reported during the past few days the plight of Fatimah Seif Eddine (21 year old) who called the ISF 112 hotline to report the abuse she continuously suffers from by her uncle.  Fatmeh's complaints remained unheard as she was mocked by the policeman who answered the phone.  Fatmeh suffered the same treatment by police agents in both Borj el Barajneh and Mrayjeh.  A policeman blamed her for complaining against her uncle while another one told her "do not call us, we will call you".
Local newspapers lamented the carelessness of the policy as a result of which her uncle continued to hit her and knocked her out till she became unconscious.  Fatmeh’s new complain was treaded in the same manner , whilst having official medical reports in her possession as a physician in the military hospital reported that she was a victim of physical violence. Police authorities noted that the behavior of the police officers is in disregard of the procedures adopted by ISF and assured that violators will be held accountable for their acts, Meanwhile, Fatmeh and other women victims of violence remain under the threat of being denied protection.
Source: Al-Akhbar, 6 December 2014

Despite measures put in place by the Ministry, since three weeks ago, in order to protect milk producers and set the price of one kilogram of milk at LBP 1,100, milk farmers are facing now a new crisis, as demand for their products plummeted from 30 to 12 tons daily following the decisions of the Ministry of Public Health to closed down a number of dairy products factories, which did not comply with sanitary criteria.  In addition, still-operating dairy factories have exploited this opportunity to force a drop in the sales price of one kilogram of milk to LBP 900.
As such, milk producers organised, yesterday, a sit in during which they blocked the international road and spilled milk on the road to express their anger.  The milk producers called on the concerned officials to move fast to help this sector from impending losses and to alleviate the impact on hundreds of families who depend on milk production and cows rearing as their main source of livelihood.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Nahar 8 December 2014

The women committee of the Sinno kinship association inaugurated its first annual crafts exhibition at its headquarters in Snubra area of Beirut, last Saturday.  The event ran over two days and included handcrafts, accessories, and food products made by women.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 6 December 2014

The coordinator of the network of university women affiliated to the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), Leila Saadeh, noted that no women at all are appointed in high level positions in Lebanese universities. Saadeh added during the regional conference entitled “Academic women, women of power” held by the AUF in Dakar on November 13 and 14, and attended by 24 women from 15 countries, that this situation prevails not only in Lebanon but in all other countries.
Saadeh also noted that the academic world is discriminatory against women par excellence, and that only the level of discrimination differs from one country to the other.  Finally, Saadeh suggested that AUF places conditionality on its support to universities in Lebanon by including clauses that will ensure gender equality.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 4 December 2014

AUB held a round table last Tuesday to discuss the findings of a study prepared by the World Bank on the employment potential of the Middle East and North Africa. The round table was organised in the presence of economists from the World Bank and the former Minister of Economy and Trade, Nicolas Na7has, as well as professors from AUB. The study’s findings showed that micro-startups & firms, less than 5 years old and with less than five employees, accounted for 177 percent of aggregate net job creation and generated about 66,000 jobs in Lebanon between 2005 and 2010. The second largest number of jobs (12,000) was created by young large firms with 200-999 employees. The study recommended that the MENA region must reform policies so as not to allow few firms to dominate the most lucrative sectors of the economy, and in an attempt to promote equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs.
Marc Schiffbauer, a senior economist at the World Bank argued that there should be an understanding of the factors holding back new firms from entering the Lebanese market, explaining that startups have the capacity to create the number of jobs needed in Lebanon but red tape and restrictions curbing foreign direct investments must be removed since they are hindering the establishment of such firms. For his part, Ibrahim Osman, associate dean and business professor at AUB, emphasized the importance of the information and communications technology sector in creating employment. He noted that globally ICT employment has grown with top firms hiring more than 14 million people worldwide in 2011, an average increase of 6 percent from 2010.
Source: The Daily Star 3 December 2014

Finally, the Parliamentary Commission for women and children headed by MP Gilberte Zouein, met yesterday to discuss the conditions of women in prisons.  Notwithstanding the importance of this subject, one cannot help but noticing that this Commission has been noticeably silent in regards to other key issues related to women notably women’s right to nationality, personal status laws, the penal code, violence against women, etc… and has made little contribution to protect women and secure their rights.  Furthermore, it is to be reminded that previous interventions made by this Commission have mostly served to reinforce patriarchal positions and mindsets.  This time the Commission dwelt for five hours on the matter at hand and decided to postpone the discussions to ulterior meetings.
Source: Al-Nahar 5 December 2014
 

Within the framework of the current food safety frenzy, the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, met yesterday with the honey committee to discuss the protection of Lebanese honey as well as assess the current situation of local honey production and export.  The meeting was attended by the Head of the Horticulture and Field crops directorate, engineer Mona Siblini, the president of the beekeeping section, Ramzi Moghrabu, the representative of the Kfarshima laboratory, Adli Jammoul, expert in chemical testing of honey, William Safi, as well as Nadine Haj Chemali and Joseph Nakhle representing LIVCD and Hussein Kodmani representing beekeepers.
Participants discussed problems facing honey quality and production notably poor storage and transportation conditions, import of poor quality honey, and inappropriate changes in the temperature of honey.  All participants insisted on the importance of increasing control on local honey production.  Minister Chehayeb concluded by requesting the honey committee to set clear criteria for allowing honey import thus providing protection to local beekeepers in addition to looking at the possibility of providing government assistance to beekeepers in undertaking testing, and the laboratory in Kfarshima to submit a study on what it needs to increase the efficiency of its work.
Source: Al-Diyar 5 December 2014