News

A seminar, entitled “Women in Parliament”, was held in parliament yesterday and was concluded by a strong reaffirmation of the need to lift all forms of discrimination against women and to strengthen their involvement in political life and in decision-making processes, given the critical importance of role of women in development and in order to legally uphold the rights of women. The seminar was organised in the framework of a project aiming at strengthening women’s participation in government and development and which is being implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs in cooperation with the Italian Embassy – the Office of Italian Cooperation. The project seeks to promote and strengthen the capacities of women to participate in the political life and to access decision-making positions.
The seminar commenced with a speech by the Italian Ambassador in Lebanon, who indicated that women’s active political participation and their significant participation in the democratic processes of decision-making should be of great interest to and benefit for the entire political and social system. For his part, the Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Wael Abou Faoor drew the attention to the importance of the seminar and the role it can play by opening the door for prominent women figures so that they can clearly articulate the key societal issues and concerns from their own perspective. He also alluded to various programs and services undertaken by his Ministry and targeting women through vocational training, reproductive health services fighting illiteracy, and mainstreaming the concept of gender in plans and programs of his ministry.
For his part, MP, Yassine Jaber outlined the current realities in Parliament, stating that the problem is not of low women’s representation (!!??) but is the need to strengthen women’s representation (!!!??), reminding the participants in the seminar that there is no law that prohibits a woman from running in elections, but what is needed is to empower women. In that respect, he pointed out to some 26 law proposals which were adopted to strengthen the participation of the woman, and to attain gender equality (!!??).
The floor was then opened for various interventions by women researchers and activists: Zeina Abdel Khaleq addressed the issue of gender equality, Carmen Jeh7a presented the findings from a study on the realities of women within political parties, Mariam El Shami spoke about special legislations for women, Nada Zaarour about women and the environment, Elizabeth Zakhariyya Siufi and Afifa el Sayyed about citizenship, Zoya Ruhana about violence against women, Rola Murad on women and rural development, Manal el Hurani about the elderly, Abir Abdel Samad about women situation in prisons, Nabila Babti about education, Graziella Karam about the media, Tsolair Talantian about political parties, Marmelle Bustani on removing differences in law between men and women, Angelic Khalil on the role of women in political parties, Rana Sa2adeh on women and laws”, and finally, Ghida Anani about gender equality.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 7 October 2013

Following the statement of last week issued by the national campaign undertaken by the Gathering for the Protection of Lebanese Women to raise the age of custody of children to the children for the Shiite confessional group, (please refer to the news at the portal, “Judge Sharara to the national campaign for increasing children’s custody age: the campaign is a waste of time!?” dated 30/9/2013), the campaign organized last Saturday a sit-in in front of the headquarters of  Shiite Higher Council, located in Haret Hreik in which a group of women activist participated in order to reiterate their demand for raising the age of child custody.
Women activists received after the sit-in a communication from the bureau of the Shiite Higher Council Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan, expressing his readiness to meet and dialogue with the campaign sometime during the current week. One of the women activists, Zeina Ibrahim, reiterated the demand of the group for uplifting the age of custody to 12 years for both boys and girls, in harmony with a similar decision taken earlier by Sunni courts, and in accordance with the Islamic Sharia. She went on to say that the next move by the Gathering will depend on the outcome of the meeting with the Sheikh Qabalan.
Source: Al-Safir, 7 October 2013

Endeavor hosted a media round table at its Beirut offices, on October 2nd, that tackled the situation of women’s entrepreneurship and the impact of their work on the Lebanese economy, considering that women’s participation in the workforce is a mere 22%. Endeavor pointed out that this low percentage is largely due to the preoccupation of women with household chores and raising children, noting that many women leave their jobs after marriage, and that stating that single working women represents 68% of their total whereas the corresponding figure for single working men is only 51%.
The round table also emphasised the importance of coaching, particularly for women working in technology or business, although the concept of coaching is some what new for Lebanese society.
Nibal Edelbi, chief of Information and Communications Technology Applications Division at ESCWA and head of the Digital Arabic Content Initiative, said that studies have shown that women are almost “nonexistent” in the ICT sector, hence the need to encourage and train women to compete more, pointing out to the advantage of working from home as one possible encouraging factor to attract women into this field. Edelbi added that coaching in such fields is a very essential tool for integrating women, as well as to build their capacities and knowledge through practical experience from seniors and experts in the field. For her part, Delphine Eddeh, publishing director of Diwanee websites emphasised that passion alone is not enough, and that a lot of efforts are needed to compete in the business.
Source: The Daily Star, L’Orient Le Jour 3 October 2013

My Nationality is a Right for me and my Family Campaign issued a statement last Saturday as a rebuttal to an interview given by the Minister of Interior, Marwan Charbel, to the An Nahar newspaper regarding the recent naturalization decree number 10214.

The rebuttal refers to the Campaign’s earlier press communiqué concerning the said naturalization decree of 10214 (signed on March 22nd 2013) and points out that the Campaign finds itself obligated to respond to the statement and arguments of the Minister, as they are by and large inaccurate and poorly convincing also given the Minister suspicions about the intentions of the Nationality Campaign. The rebuttal goes on by saying that the Minister’s positions were totally unfair vis-à-vis women who are demanding to be equal to men in their right to transmit nationality to their families and to enjoy full citizenship rights. 

The statement notes that the Nationality Campaign is not questioning the President’s constitutional right to issue such a decree, but expressed its opposition to  granting the Lebanese nationality to foreign individuals (regardless of the reasons or motivations) when all women of Lebanon are still denied this right.  As to the 112 beneficiaries of the “Makramah”, and in order to ensure full accountability and transparency, the Campaign requested clarifications of the criteria used to select these individuals. In quoting Minister Charbel, the Campaign asks “How were their past and future services to Lebanon assessed?”; “Who recommended and nominated these beneficiaries?”  With regards to Minister Charbel’s assertion that a number of expatriate committees nominated these individuals, the Campaign asks “who are these expatriates committees and were they all involved in the nomination process?  What about the Arab beneficiaries? Were they nominated by expatriates committees or by other groups?

On the issue of not publishing this decree in the official gazette, the Campaign strongly refutes the argument provided by the Minister as not valid and is rather thin since the official gazette publishes regularly decrees of “individual nature”.  In 2012 alone, 46 similar individual decrees were published and these concerned the acquisition of foreign nationalities whilst 7 other decrees were published and were related to the withdrawal of approvals to acquire foreign nationalities.

With regards to decree 5247 which was issued in 1994 and the position of civil society organizations vis-à-vis this decree, the Campaign said that is does not see this matter as an issue for current discussion, adding that it is not obligated to either condemn or defend this decree especially since it was issued prior to the launching of the Nationality Campaign in 2002.  It also reminded the Minister and the public that the post-war Taef agreement stipulated in one of its provisions the granting of Lebanese nationality to the inhabitants of Wadi Khaled and the “seven contested villages” in the south and others as well.

In conclusion, and with regards to the “intentions behind this attack on decree 10124”, the Campaign reiterated that its only motivation is in upholding the rights of women in Lebanon and ensuring that their voices are heard since they do not seem to be taken into consideration by Lebanese politicians. This matter should not be considered as a demand by civil society but rather a right of concern to all women and men citizens in Lebanon.

Finally, the Campaign reiterated its call for the state and key politicians to start addressing the issue of citizenship rights more seriously namely women’s full citizenship rights and equality and this without resorting to raising confessional fears about the naturalisation of Palestinians in Lebanon, or recoursing to thin arguments regarding demographic imbalances.

Source: My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign, Al-Nahar - 28 September 2013

‪The Minister of Social Affairs (MOSA), Wael Abu Faoor, announced yesterday the start up of the fourth stage of the programme to support the poorest families in Lebanon and which is implemented by the Ministry in collaboration with the Embassies of Italy and Canada as well as the World Bank.  The announcement was made during a joint press conference with the Italian ambassador in Lebanon giuseppe morabito, and the Canadian Ambassador Hilary Adams which was held yesterday and was attended by a representative of the World Bank and several representatives from the Ministry.

‪Abu Faoor presented the outcomes from the previous phases of the said programme while outlining the number and geographical distribution of beneficiaries who spread across Lebanon and received support in education and health services.  The Minister also noted that the programme reflects the commitment of his Ministry while lamenting the absence of significant international aid to Lebanon in order to assist in meeting the challenges of the displacement of Syrian population, and dismissing the reluctance of the international aid donors who point out to Lebanon’s poor track record and lack of transparency.  He said however that this programme is a proof to the contrary to which both the Italian and Canadian embassy can attest.   He insisted that the current social and economic conditions in the country justify the continuity of the current programme reiterating that poor past experiences are not solid justifications for not to supporting successful programmes as the one question.  The Minister went on to further criticize the strategy adopted by the international community in providing aid through international organisations, and through them, to local non-governmental organisations. According to the Minister’s calculations, this strategy resulted in circa 27% of aid being misused.  He concluded by saying that the Ministry’s current program is a model that can be replicated in the future.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal 4 October 2013

According to ESCWA’s new report entitled “the survey of economic and social developments in the Arab region, 2012-2013”, women unemployment in the Arab region has reached 40% of the total unemployed population and 25% of the labour force despite their low economic participation rate.
The report launched last Tuesday, indicated that more than 20 million Arab citizens are unemployed according to the statistics of the ILO.  The report further reveals that the growth in GDP is not matched by a growth in employment in the Arab world and that the two indicators are totally dissociated, thus going against the basic principles of economics.  Another particular trend to the Arab region is the fact that 40% of manual labor force is active in the informal sector.  Those sectors which contributes most to the GDP, namely gas and oil production, only generate a small percentage of total employment, while the other sectors which contribute least to GDP, such as tourism, construction and other services, are the ones that absorb a large proportion of the employed population.  The report states that in Lebanon, the gap between formal and informal employment is very significant and reaches 30%
The ESCWA report also underlines that work productivity in Arab countries is low and is inversely proportional to the growth rate.  According to the report, this may be explained by the rapid increase in demand for employment at a time when the economy’s ability to generate employment is decreasing.  During the next decade, Arab countries will need to generate 1.5 million additional work opportunities every year in order to absorb the new comers into the job market as well as to control unemployment rates. The report finally underscores a too well know reality that the youth population in the Arab region is the primary victim of unemployment.
Source: Al-Akhbar 3 October 2013

The Social Work Association distributed yesterday for the second year running a number of loans to cover tuition fees for more than 25 students (girls and boys) who will benefit from the 2013 university loans.  The loans were granted within the framework of the protocol concluded between on one hand the Social Work Association and the Mawared and BBAC banks on the other, through which selected students will be able to benefit from zero interest loans to cover university tuition fees.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 3 October 2013

The president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), First Lady Wafa Suleiman launched yesterday an initiative to support Syrian displaced women in securing some of their primary health and shelter needs.  The initiative was launched during a public event entitled “solidarity with the women refugees from Syria’ organised at the NCLW training centre in Baabda.
The initiative is implemented in collaboration with the UNFPA and the Arab Women Organisation and includes the distribution of 1880 health kits containing various reproductive health implements for emergency use, medicines for women and girls as well as health awareness booklets on reproductive health and prevention.  The kits will be distributed by volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross.
The General Director of the Arab Women Organisation Sheikha Seif Shamsy indicated in her keynote address that its organization is developing jointly with UNWomen and the bureau of women, family and childhood at the Arab League, a regional strategy entitled “Protecting Arab Women… Peace and Security”.  The strategy will seek to develop a regional framework to mobilize various Arab stakeholders and decision makers (both regional and in-country) to work effectively in protecting women from all forms of gender based violence and especially from violence against women during wars and armed conflicts.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 2 October 2013

The project entitled "Promote Women's Participation in Governance and Development" implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and with funding from the development aid office at the Italian Embassy seeks to provide equal opportunities for women so as they are able to participate more actively in decision making processes at the local level as well as increase women’s participation in national political life.
At the local level,. The project will implement 18 small initiatives run by women members of local councils in different governorates of the country.  Work on this project has started in September 2013 and will continue for six months.  The focus of these small projects will be determined according to local needs.  In the area of Ryak for instance, an awareness raising campaign on discrimination against women will be initiated.  In Baalbak and Bebnayel, the emphasis will be placed on health nutrition.
On the national level, the project will aim at encouraging political parties to nominate women for the next legislative elections as well as to seek popular support for these women candidates.  The related campaign will extend over 12 months during which the project will organize an awareness raising seminar for media representatives focusing on the importance of women’s role especially in decision making.  The project also includes a component for building the capacity of MOSA staff in gender mainstreaming with a view towards transforming the Ministry into a real ministry for social development.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 2 October 2013