News

The Environmental Fund for Lebanon outlined yesterday the outcome of its work through highlighting the achievements of 30 organisations which received funding support form the EFL for their development projects in order to implement local environmental projects through the collaboration between local municipalities, NGOs and private sector.  To be noted that the implanted initiatives sought to mitigate the environmental and economic impact of the July 2006 war in Lebanon.  The highlighting of these projects was carried out during a commemoration event held in Ain Mreisseh which celebrated their full implementation, organised under the auspices of the Minister of the Environment, Nazem Khouri, and with the attendance of a number of municipal heads, private organisations and NGO which received financial support from the Fund.
The overall aim of the project, which extended over the past six years, was to provide some 30 local initiatives with financial support amounting to circa 4.8 million Euros. The funded local initiatives were implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and GIZ, and sought to improve environmental performance through investments which carry economic benefits namely to small and medium enterprises and which will result in economic gains for the public and non-governmental sectors.  The project targeted, in its first phase, the protection of fragile ecosystems, sustainable agriculture and rational use of energy.  The second phase focused on water pollution due to industrial waste as well as improving the situation in North Lebanon through projects seeking to increase income and to improve adaptability to climate change.
For his part, the Minister of the Environment, Khouri, noted in his speech that the success of the Environmental Fund for Lebanon can be traced to its three key principles, namely: first transparency in its management and in such a way that it is in line with national priorities and plans, secondly the development of partnership with the public sector as well as between the private and public sectors, and finally the sustainability of activities and financing.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 12 December 2013

Three emerging youth companies, Lebtivity, Sociatag and Etobb, succeeded in representing Lebanon at the web summit in Dublin, which is an annual event that brings together tens of thousands of young business entrepreneurs from around the world most of whom are in fact youth entrepreneurs with age ranging between 20 to 33 years.
L’Orient le Jour interviewed Randa Farah, the founder of Lebtivity who introduced the work scope of her website which monitors Lebanese cultural, artistic, and sports activities and which has attracted the interests of many of the participants in the summit especially since it portrays positive images of Lebanon.  Farah added that the website was funded by the founders themselves who are now working on marketing the idea to other countries.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 12 December 2013

Lebanon celebrated the International Human Rights Day on December 10th with a flurry of activities.  The Parliament organised in collaboration with the UNHCR and the UNDP the 20th anniversary of the International Human Rights Declaration.  The event included the holding of two working sessions. The first was introduced by women’s rights expert, Joelle Shueifati, who presented a review of the Lebanese laws whilst highlighting discriminatory texts.  Shueifati also emphasized legal texts which are in contradiction with human rights in view of their discrimination against women such as for instance the electoral law, the labor and NSSF laws especially in relation to the issue of maternity leave and the fact that “celibacy” is still maintained as a condition for employment of women in the third categories and beyond in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the diplomatic corps. The second session included a presentation of findings from three studies on how to combat corruption in the water, health and education sectors.
For its part, the Bar Association celebrated the 65th anniversary of the International Human Rights Declaration with the presence of a number of political, legal and trade union figures.  The rapporteur of the committee for public freedoms and human rights, lawyer Fadi Karam, indicated in his keynote address that the Bar Association is continuously monitoring the implementation of human rights whilst highlighting the challenges in implementation namely at the level of strengthening the concept and practice of full citizenship with no discrimination amongst women and men and especially in the law and following the principle of gender equality and so as to reach equitable development.

Schools and universities also initiated a number of activities for that occasion.  The Lebanese University organised in collaboration with the EU delegation a seminar on political participation in the Middle East region.  The seminar was attended by the EU ambassador Angelina Eichhorst who noted that the major question is how to build a diverse civil state in Lebanon and which guarantees the rights and freedom for all.  She added that the youth hold the future and hence the importance of their participation in debates about the future of the region. Furthermore, the Notre Dame University in Loueyzeh inaugurated a commemorative statue of Dr. Charles Malek in recognition of his contribution to the International Human Rights Charter.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, Al-Nahar, Al-Safir 11 December 2013

The Rassmeblement Democratique des Femmes Libanaises, organised in collaboration with Dar el Amal, a sit-in in solidarity with the rights of women prisoners in Lebanon.  The slogan of the sit in was “they have the right to live in dignity” and was organised to coincide with the international 16 day campaign to combat violence against women and within the framework of the joint project entitled “Reinforcing the role of media to endorse the policies and the practices of human rights in women prisons in Lebanon”.
The women activists delivered a Memorandum of demands to the Minister of Justice requesting him to take into consideration the special needs of women prisoners, namely conducting a general medical exam as soon as they are detailed or incarcerated in addition to upholding their rights to be rehabilitated and reintegrated in society, upholding their right to communicate with their families, and to access legal and psychological support.  The Memorandum also calls for operationalising the existing legal aid support within the Ministry of Justice and for reducing detention and incarceration time.  The Memorandum further requests that the administration of prisons be improved, and prison wardens, physicians, nurses and doctors be trained in gender and in rights based approaches.
In a related vein, Al Akhbar newspaper published a report on the situation of women prisons highlighting that they are architecturally ill equipped to serve as prisons except in the case of the women prison in Tripoli.  This matter has negative consequences on the situation within prisons which fluctuates between bad and inhumane according to the study carried out by NGOs with regards to the condition of incarceration centres for women.  The report also noted that services provided by NGOs are partial, with religious NGOs leading in the provision of services in the midst of a quasi absence of educational, entertainment and cultural services.  A previous study carried out three years ago noted that of 10000 NGOs registered at the Ministry of Interior; only 20 associations are active within women prisons of which 10 groups do occasional one-time activities.  The study further highlighted the absence of coordination amongst these NGOs.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Safir, Al-Nahar, The Daily star 11 December 2013

Nabeh presented yesterday the results of a study on women’s rights violations in times of conflict which was carried out within the framework of its new project entitled “helping women in conflict situation”.  The project is funded by the Foundation for the Future and implemented by Nabeh in collaboration with Solidarity association. The study which focused on displaced women showed that 25% of them suffer from physical and verbal abuse by their husbands.  Of these, 39% resort to their families whilst the rest chose to keep silent.  The study further noted that 46% of women interviewed considered that failing to report violence is due to embarrassment especially if the violation has implication of “reputation: and “honor”.
A number of other papers were also presented by the Center of Social Solidarity and which highlighted the economic conditions of displaced women in Lebanon amidst the discrimination to which Palestinian working women are subjected especially since the labor laws limit Palestinian women’s right to work.  Nashet (Active) Social and Cultural Association also presented a paper highlighted violations during emergencies and especially targeting women, and the Follow-up Committee of displaced Palestinians from Syria another paper focusing in violation targeting displaced women before and after their displacement.  Finally, the paper presented by Center of Social Development stressed on the social and psychological pressures on Palestinian women and especially those displaced from Syria.
Source: Al-Safir 11 December 2013

The Director General of the Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture in Zahleh and the General Secretary of Local Economic Development Agency (LEDA), Youssef Geha, attended, upon the invitation of UNDP-Art Gold, a conference in Brussels entitled: “Family farming: A dialogue towards more sustainable and resilient farming in Europe and the world”, and which extended over two days with the participation of some 3000 invitees worldwide.  The conference discussed the realities of development in various countries of the world with special focus on poor and developing countries. These countries gave presentations on their respective country experiences whilst highlighting the role of local governance institutions in promoting economic development and the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors for the process of drawing annual plans and strategies and for putting forward realistic projects and studies.
Geha spoke during a panel of experts in development, highlighting Lebanon’s developmental realities and the challenges faced.  He also spoke of successful relations that exist between Lebanese institutions and international donor organisations.  He presented the experience of the Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture in Zahleh and the Beqaa, especially the success recorded in replacing marijuana culture with grapevines in the areas of Deir el Ahmar, as well as the creation of an agricultural cooperative specifically for that purpose.  This specialised cooperative is also intending to set up a workshop for production and marketing.  Geha also spoke about the creation of Local Economic Development Agency (LEDA) which is a new organisational structure made possible with financial input from the UNDP and including representatives of the Chamber of Zahleh and the Beqaa in addition to representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, cooperatives, farmers, the syndicate of beekeepers, LARI and  various universities.  Geha shared with the other participants the work experience of this new outfit, especially in relation to improving the quality of products from the Beqaa and supporting marketing based on the initial intervention of the Chamber in creating a Food Quality Control Bureau.  A quality trademark will be introduced soon to be used for labeling products which pass the quality control tests and so as to be a trademark for external marketing.

Source: Al-Diyar 10 December 2013
For further information on this conference, please consult the following link: “Family farming: A dialogue towards more sustainable and resilient farming in Europe and the world”

Ziad Shammas, board member and President of the Environment & Energy Committee at the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), said that the industrial sector in Lebanon suffers from several shortcomings notably its inability to secure green jobs.  He noted that the Industrialists Association is trying to address this problem through introducing a number of measures within its Environment and Energy Department and so as to promote the creation of an industrial environment conducive to investing in eco-friendly industries which will directly contribute to creating green jobs in Lebanon.
Shammas’ key note address was made during a workshop on supporting green jobs and decent work in the MENA region, which was organised by the ILO and ESCWA in Turin (Italy).  The aim of the workshop, according to the ILO, was to develop policies and programmes which would encourage the creation of green jobs locally and nationally through raising awareness amongst ILO partner organisations of the MENA region, on the importance of the social and job creation components in the green economy.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 10 December 2013

Insan kicked off yesterday a two day workshop on the sponsorship (Kafala) system.  The event was held in Hazmieh with the attendance of representatives of organisations working on legal issues related to migrant women workers.  The event was also attended by former Minister of Labor Charbel Nahhas, the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Lebanon Ranjith Gunarathna and a representative of the Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon.
The seminar included a review of the clauses of the ILO Convention 189 on the rights of migrant domestic workers. Participants also discussed steps needed so that Lebanon ratifies this Convention.  Nahhas noted for his part that migrant domestic workers need to be included in the provisions of the Labor Law.  He reiterated the fundamental right of all to be protected from any form of discrimination in work arguing that the sponsorship system has no legal or cultural basis in Lebanon.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 10 December 2013

The Human Rights Club at the Lebanese University organised yesterday at Faculty of Law in Saida a seminar on strengthening women’s capacity to advocate for the law to protect women from family violence.  The Club coordinator, Halima Kaakour, presented the reports of the Vienna Human Rights Conference as well as the CEDAW commission on violence against women.  According to Kaakour, violence against women is considered to be the most widespread form of violation of human rights worldwide.  She added that the Lebanese state needs to take real measures to enhance women’s right to education especially in view of the intimate link, according to her, between illiteracy and violence.  She also called for enacting laws which condemn domestic violence and which protect women from this violence especially within the family, and ensure legal, political and economic gender equality.
Source: Al-Akhbar 10 December 2013

The Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) organised in collaboration with the DPNA a meeting that was held last week at the premises of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in order to discuss progress in implementing the program entitled: Entrepreneurship education towards a pioneering society in Lebanon.  The event was attended by a number of business people and sought to brief economic decision makers on the phases completed by this programme so far with the aim of securing their support and bring them into the Coalition currently being set up and which is expected to become a major incubator for business enterprises in Lebanon.  The Coalition thus far includes the Ministry of Higher Education, a number of other Ministries, international organisations, and economic institutions as well as civil society organisations.  The meeting also sought to harvest views and insights of attendees into the drawing of a national strategy to support business enterprises and of broad policies that would support such a direction.  CERD’s Director, Leila Mali7ha Fayyad, noted that CERD is currently taking steps towards introducing the concept of entrepreneurship in the educational and technical curricula in a gradual fashion.  The concept has now been mainstreamed with other subjects and with planned co-academic activities.  Fayyad noted that Lebanon has become a pioneer internationally in addressing the concept in this way through the initiative of CERD.
Source: Al-Diyar 9 December 2013