News

41 year old B. Kh. confessed to murdering his 27 year old wife some 10 days ago and then burying her in their home garden in Nabatieh.  B. Kh. confessed after the internal security undertook a dig of the garden in the presence of the Nabatyeh district attorney, Ghada Abou Karrum.  According to the statement issues by the ISF, the perpetrator confessed to killing his wife because of “personal and family disputes”.
The local newspapers had noted that the murder would not have been uncovered had it not been for the victim’s aunt who had reported her missing to the police.  When calling on the husband, the police was wary of his contradictory answers and also noticed that flies were gathering around a specific plot in his garden.
Source: Al-Akhbar 15 September 2014

The Amshit Municipality inaugurated last week the exhibition which it organised in cooperation with the Valeurs d'Orient association under the slogan of “our heritage forever”.  The event which is located at the Michel Suleiman Avenue in Amshit is hosting 91 exhibitors from all parts of Lebanon.
The president of the association, Rita Zakhia, said in her opening address that the exhibition is not an ordinary event as it seeks to preserve the endangered Lebanese heritage.  She also underscored the participation of social institutions as well as people with special needs in the event so as to strengthen social integration and cohesions.  The head of the Amchit municipality, Dr. Antoine Issa, highlighted the sacrifices of the Lebanese army, adding that the message of the exhibition is “our heritage will continue forever”.  He strongly emphasized the determination of people to hang on to their heritage and values and not to abandon their identity and oriental human values.

Source: Al-Diyar 15 September 2014

The Future Movement coordination in Akkar organized an event to commemorate the graduation of 20 women who took part in its ICT training for beginners.  The event was held last week with the participation of the general coordinator and president of the federation of municipalities in As Sahel, Issam Abdel Kader and the head of the Tel Hayat municipality, Khaled al Khaled, in addition to other members of the Future Movement. In his speech, Abdel Kader emphasized the importance of such training stating that women in Akkar are now equal to men in accessing education, universities as well as the job market.  He reiterated that the Future Movement will organize addition training to raise the skills of women in Akkar, adding that women’s empowerment is the first step towards community development.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 15 September 2014

Ar Rahmah Centre for community services concluded last week its vocational training workshops targeting Syrian displaced women and which were implemented in collaboration with the Al-Ree3aya association.  The workshops, which extended over 6 months and targeted some 40 women, included training in several skills such as accounting, hairdressing and make-up.
The distribution of certificates to graduates was carried out under the auspices of the president of the federation of relief organizations in Saida and South Lebanon. Kamel Kazbar, who emphasized in his speech the importance of education and vocational training and their positive impact in allowing individuals to find jobs which would secure livelihoods.  This, he added, will reflect positively on society as it will improve living conditions and will alleviate material and psychological stress.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 15 September 2014

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a regional project for technical assistance for the introduction of quinoa and the institutionalization of its production in a number of countries in the MENA region, namely: Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen. Hence, the first farmers’ field days were held in Lebanon, last Wednesday, in Tal Amara and Kfardan, in coordination with the Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute (LARI), together with the Ministry of Agriculture. Other workshops, training sessions and field days will be organized for farmers and agronomists during the project’s implementation period.  The organization said in a statement, issued at the beginning of the implementation of the project, that it included Lebanon with other countries in the project at the request of the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture. FAO explained that the project will assist Lebanon in assessing potentials for adopting quinoa, fostering and strengthening the transfer of knowledge and competencies so as to build and develop local capacities, and in developing a basis for a national sustainable strategy for the integration of quinoa in the farming systems.
 Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Nahar, The Daily Star 12 September 2014

Al Nahar newspaper published a report about this year’s olives season in Akkar where olive orchard owners and farmers expressed their fears about the negative implication of drought, low rainfall and climate change on their production.  The annual olives harvest is a major source of livelihood for local growers and farmers as well as for the 200 olive presses in the region which produces annually 40,000 tons of the total 70,000 tones produced in North Lebanon.
Farmer Khalil Abdallah expressed concern vis-à-vis the dumping of foreign olives and olive oil products into the local markets.  Imports in large quantities from Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Spain are likely to undermine internal marketing of domestic products.  One of the largest olive farmers in the region of Akkar, Michel Nasr, noted that delayed rainfalls are likely to affect this year production and cause a disaster to farmers leading to a reduction in olive oil production and increase in sales price.  To be noted that last year’s yields were also below expectation.

Source: Al-Nahar 11 September 2014

Fekr wa Hayat Association in Minyyeh organized a graduation ceremony for the participants in its Women Empowerment III project which was implemented with funding from the US Embassy small grants programme.  The event was held yesterday at the UNESCO palace with the participation of the Minister for the Displaced, Alice Shabtini. MP Kazem el Kheir of the Future movement said in his speech that this project is a special experiment in challenging illiteracy, chauvinism and women’s marginalization.  He noted that the project seeks to empower women through language training, computer literacy and using social media.  He also added that this project assists in raising social awareness, improving cultural levels, and increasing professional and national productivity especially through clarifying the diverse roles of women in politics, society, media, economy and professions.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 11 September 2014

Celebrations for the World Peace Day kicked off in Lebanon in a press conference organized last week under the auspices of former first lady, Mona Hrawi.  During this event, Ms. May Khalil was chosen to be the Peace Woman for Lebanon for the year 2014.  To be noted that September 21st has been designated as the World Peace Day some 33 years ago by the United Nations.  Three years ago, the CEO of Bee Events & PR Company, Nabil Tabet, in collaboration with Casino du Liban also formally kicked off celebrations for the Lebanon Peace Day.
In his opening address during the press conference, Tabet noted that the main aim of these celebrations is to reiterate Lebanon’s commitment to world peace as well as enhance and promote Lebanon’s heritage on an international level through the creation of a programme that would promote heritage in various parts of Lebanon notable Byblos, Batrun, Beit Eddine and the Cedars.  The programme consists of contributions from 5 photographers and 5 fashion designers.  Tabet noted that the photo exhibition will go on until September 21st and will take place at Saint Joseph University and the Zeytounah Bay. Photographs will then be published in a booklet which will be disseminated across the world via Lebanese consular services as well as Lebanese travel agencies.  The programme also includes a fashion exhibition to be held on 19th and 20th of September.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal 10 September 2014

Within the framework of the extra-curricular activities of the students and teachers of the “English for Women” programme which Hayya Bena is implementing in around 20 localities in Lebanon, Hayya Benna and Association pour le Developpement Rural organized a get together in Shebaa which grouped all the students from Tura, Majdel Selem, Maarakeh, and Ayn el Remmaneh. The event started with a tour in Shebaa which included stopover visits to a number of tourist and religious sites.  Participants then returned to the municipality where each women group gave a presentation of their area.  Hayya Bena’s president, Lokman Slim, then spoke about the activity which seeks at revealing what women gained and their achievements during the past few months while emphasizing the openness and tolerance character of the project in addition to its educational objectives.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 10 September 2014

A number of Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi women and their children organized a sit in by the UN House to express their solidarity with women in Syria and Iraq and to condemn various forms of terrorism and violence against them.  Activists were also present at the sit-in which raised a warning regarding the undermining of women and against all fundamentalist and extremist groups which continue to violate women’s rights and dignity.  The sit-in was called for by the Rassemblement Democratique des Femmes Libanaises.  It included statements by Iraqi women who had arrived to Lebanon just some 10 days ago and who spoke about the suffering caused by fundamentalist groups including rapes, murder, FGM and trafficking.  Manar Zeaiter, member of RDFL, spoke about sexual violence and the fact that fundamentalist groups are subjecting women to rape, forced marriage, traffic and FGMM on a daily basis whilst it is impossible to accurately document these abuses.  As such, and given this level of violence against women, Zeaiter noted women had to act in the name of solidarity, and say no to violence.  Zeaiter also called on the international community and on public institutions all over the world to act seriously to stop funding fundamentalist groups and halt the long term repercussions of armed conflicts on women and ensure that the protection of women in armed conflict is on the agenda of all conferences, plans and strategies.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar, Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 10 September 2014