News

An agreement was signed between the assistant manager at Byblos bank, Gilbert Zwein, and the president of the association, Father Toni Khadra whereby Byblos bank will start issuing a special Titanium Master Card for the members of Labora organisation who will be able to benefit from a number of privileges through this card including discounts, use of ATM machines, donations to the association upon each usage, etc....  The card allows its users to immediately adhere to the Bank's Akram loyalty programme which allows them to accumulate miles which can be exchanged with gifts.
This agreement was exchanged between the two parties within the framework of Byblos Bank's commitment to Corporate Responsibility which aims at providing support to associations, educational and vocational institutions, and trade unions. To be noted that Labora is a non governmental organisations concerned with training and employment of the Lebanese youth.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal 26 February 2014

Horeca's 21st exhibition will kick off between 1 and 4 April and will occupy a surface area of 15 thousand square meters at the Biel exhibition centre.  Some 350 companies will participate in this year's event which is expected to attract more than 18000 visitors.  The exhibition includes a number of food competition including a cooking event in which 200 competitors and 12 jury members have signed up, a hospitality competition with 100 participants and 10 jurors considered to be amongst te experts in their fields.  Other competitions include an olive oil competition in which will take part some 50 different olive oil products to be seen by 8 jurors, in addition to a gourmet space with international chefs and tasters.  Horeca includes three section allocated for food, packaging, interior design, hygiene, technology, bakery, nutrition, food, coffee and tea, consultation, recruitment, training and international pavilions.
Horeca organisaers, Hospitality Services, noted that the exhibition is now almost fully booked and had reached its 80% registration capacity some three months ago.  The organisers attribute this to the high reputation of this event which now attracts exhibitors from Poland, Italy, the USA, Turkey, France, Holland, Jordan, Iran and Lebanon.
Source: Al-Nahar 26 February 2014

The President of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, MP Michel Mussa, convened a meeting at the House yesterday to discuss the issue of domestic violence.  At the end of the meeting Mussa demanded that the bill to protect women from domestic violence was unanimously endorsed, some time ago, by a sub commission of the Joint Commissions especially that it had met 58 times for that purpose and introduced a number of important changes to that bill.  Mussa hoped that the concerned public institutions will resume normal work following the formation of the new cabinet so that this law can finally be passed. He noted that officials should not await the passing of the law as the present laws in Lebanon de facto penalise anybody who causes harm within or beyond the family.  He added that there are tangible advances in this regard particularly, pointing out to  present training to build capacities of the judiciary system to deal with issues of domestic violence. He also referred to an admin memo requiring those concerned to launch criminal pursuits against perpetrators of domestic violence.  Mussa further added that his Commission discussed the role of forensic doctors and that MP Atef Majdalani confirmed that he will convene a meeting of the Parliamentary Commission dealing with health to discuss all aspects of violence against women and the need to use meticulous and more modern medical technology. This has become a pressing need following the case of Rola Yaakoob and what was relayed in the media about the poor-performance of forensic doctors and the contradictions they exhibited.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Nahar 26 February 2014

The Lebanese Council for Women convened yesterday its conference entitled “Human security: freedom from fear and need” under the auspices of former PM, Negib Mikati, and with the participation of several key social and political figures.
In her opening address, the president of the Council, Ms. Jamal Ghabril, spoke about politicians who are fully aware of global state interests but who nevertheless lead their people to carry out futile religious, sectarian and confessional wars for which they pay the price.  She added that women have paid the price of the collapse of the global economic and security system in terms of unemployment, poverty, death and insecurity.
May Mikati spoke on behalf of former PM Mikati and emphasized that the only solution for Lebanon is via an electoral law based on proportional representation and  which will ensure the proper representation of women at all levels in Lebanon society.
The chair of the directorate of women, family and childhood at the League of Arab States shared that the LAS has just launched the Women and Security strategy (http://wfclas.org/ar/Pages/Page/176 )and is now working on an optional plan to ensure that all members of the League of Arab States will bear the responsibility of protecting women during conflict and unrest.  
For her part, the president of the International Council for Women noted that any country cannot advance unless women are active and represented.  She also saluted the resilience of Lebanese women during the war and compared them to a role model who could make change happen together with men.
Source: Al-Diyar 25 February 2014

Fekr Wa 7ayat Association organized yesterday and in collaboration with Partnership Center for Development and Democracy a workshop entitled “when women talk CEDAW” targeting women participating in the USAID funded programme entitled “economic empowerment for Lebanese and Syrian women”.
The workshop introduced the participants to the various components of the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and highlighted the various clauses to which Lebanon expressed its reservation namely in relation to family laws, women’s right to transmit nationality as well as state arbitration.  The workshop also included the viewing of a film on cases of women denied the right to transmit nationality to their children followed by a general discussion and was concluded with the distribution of awareness raising material.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 25 February 2014

As Safir newspaper published a report on pine kernel production in the Jezzine Caza where this is the prime agricultural production in the area, in pair with olives and grapes, and is a main source of livelihood for many inhabitants of the region.  The report outlines the difficulties farmers face especially in the harvesting and production phases.  According to the report, the village is keen on preserving its pine trees and reforestation is carried out annually.  Residents also go to neighboring villages, 7haytoura, Z7helti, and Bkasseen, where they also invest in pine planting and production as pine kernels are known as the “white gold” in view of the high selling price and especially since the Syrian crisis which halted the import of Turkish and Syrian pine kernels into Lebanon.  The latter situation directly resulted in increased sales of Lebanese production to Turkey and even Europe.  This has further pushed prices up which have reached LBP 100,000 per kilo as demand has exceeded supply.  Harvest this year faces grave problems following the advent of the Alexa storm which destroyed pine trees branches thus decreasing the expected harvests for this year and the following one.
Although pine trees do not require much maintenance, the value chain is quite expensive according to Um Rami who was interviewed by As Safir.  Um Rami and her children started picking up pine kernels some three years ago.  She describes this work as very much individual in nature with the absence of any input from agricultural organization or experts.  Um Rami laments the paucity of expert labor thus causing the cost of Syrian labor to increase to LBP 100,000 per day in addition to providing compulsory health insurance given that picking pine kernels is a hazardous occupation.  Um Rami said that this trade involves risk taking especially when selecting which field to work and harvest. To be noted that contractual agreements with land owners can extend from one to ten years.  Landowners are either paid a prohibitive cash amounts or are given half of the harvest.  Municipalities for their part tend to auction land for this purpose and take on acceptable leases in exchange of allowing pine kernels to be harvested.  Sayydeh Ruhana, while in agreement with Um Rami, shared for her part, hopes for the creation of a market where producers could readily sell their pine kernels to consumers free from the monopoly of merchants.
Source: Al-Safir 25 February 2014

The Lebanese Pavilion at the Dubai 2014 Gulf Food Exhibit opened yesterday with the attendance of the former Minister of Industry, Frej Sabounjian.  The Pavilion was organized by the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industrialists and will be open through the duration of the exhibit, which is held at the Dubai International Trade Centre, until February 27th.  
More than 70000 visitors from across the world are expected at the exhibit, as this event usually plays a strategic role in facilitating knowledge exchange amongst various actors of the food industry worldwide including economist, decision makers and experts and in developing trade linkages amongst producers and exporters.
Source: Al-Diyar 25 February 2014

The Tripoli and North Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture opened its new laboratory specialized in quality control and in testing food products using local and regional standards.  The opening was announced yesterday during a ceremony which was attended by the Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Mr. Fouad Fleifel in addition to Mohamed Choucair the Chairman of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture in Lebanon (FCCIAL),  Dany Gedeon the General Director of the Ministry of Industry, Nabil Itani the General Manager at IDAL (Investment Development Authority of Lebanon), Dr. Khater Abi Habib the Chairman and General Manager of Kafalat, Fadi Gemayel, representing the Association of  Lebanese Industrialists, Hussam Qubaiter the CEO of Racheed Karami International Expo, and Nader Ghazal head of the Tripoli municipality.
The President of the Chamber, Toufic Dabbousi, noted in his keynote address that this new facility with its equipments will help the operation of the laboratory.  He added that the Chamber financed the modernization of equipments, from its own resources, and so as to ensure high quality and safety of food products consumed by citizens.  Dabbousi added that the lab is now formally recognized by official authorities including relevant public authorities, customs and sea and land port and the airports.  It is also recognized by international instances as it enjoys ISO/IEC 17025 which is the general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.  The director of the laboratory, Khaled Al-Omary, concluded by going through the different phases of the lab since its inception to date.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal 24 February 2014

The Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the American University of Beirut announced that it will be launching, before the end of the current year, a new higher degree program in Rural Development.  The program is entitled Masters of Sciences in Rural Communities Development and will enable students to build their capacities in community development and so as to be able to better plan and implement local development projects in both the private and public sectors and in both Lebanon, the region and beyond.  The program will include a number of axis namely the cooperative and multidisciplinary approaches so as to enable students to acquire knowledge and skills and to help organizations and communities in planning various programmes.  The program also will seek to enable students to bear responsibilities as planners and also qualify them for further education, or as experts in economic development in addition to being decision makers, practitioners, and administrators whether locally, regionally or globally.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 24 February 2014
 

The National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) launched its new Gender Equality Program during a public event which was held last week at the NCLW training centre in Baabda.  The program which has received a grant of Euros 1.5 million from the European Union, seeks to strengthen gender equality in Lebanon through building the institutional capacity of the NCLW in addition to supporting the role of CSOs in advocacy for women’s political, social and economic rights as per the provisions of the NCLW ten year strategy for 2011 – 2021 that was launched back in 2013.
NCLW’s president, First Lady Wafa Suleiman emphasized that women are key in the process of social development as they represent half the society.  Thus, failing to include them in development processes is a major failing that is condemned internationally.  She continued by saying that she hopes to see women in decision making position, able to transmit her nationality to her husband and children, and legally protected from violence.  She hoped that Lebanon will achieve full and substantive gender equality through removing all forms of discrimination in law and in practice.
The Secretary General of NCLW, lawyer Fadi Karam, noted that the reason for launching this initiative which is in the form of a collaboration between the NCLW and the EU is to move forward with the institutionalization process of NCLW, to strengthen collaboration with NGOS/CSOs and with the gender focal points network in Ministries and public institutions.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 24 February 2014