News

On the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day in the field of Information Technology and Communication’ CISCO Systems hosted an initiative, as part of its social responsibility, and aiming towards strengthening the future vision of women in Lebanon. Within that framework, CISCO is offering professional training to prepare women students to become full active members of the labor force through the development of their ICT skills.
Thus and in commemoration of the international day, 16 young 11th grade women students from the International College (IC) were invited to visit the company’s offices in Casablanca – Morocco and to spend one day with the local leaders of CISCO, so as to enable women students to acquire better knowledge of future opportunities provided by the ICT sector. (Al- Diyar, National News Agency 29 May 2013)

Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation, launched the day before yesterday a videoclip of a song ‘I will rise up, I will shout’ for Souar Rouhana at her own Youtube channel, thus achieving a quick dissemination on social media site. The song is a cry voiced by a number of women against all forms of discrimination, persecution, and exploitation that women are exposed to within the Lebanese society. A group of activists performed that dance at the conclusion of the February 24th demonstration that was called for by the National Coalition to Legalize Protection of Women from Domestic Violence’ under the slogan ‘lives of women are more important than your chairs’.
In an interview with the Akhbar newspaper, the media coordinator at Kafa Ms. Maya Ammar indicated that the idea started from an initiative by a group of women volunteers who decided to perform the song and the video clip, noting that the melody accompanying the words if that of the song ‘Break the Chain’ of the campaign ‘The One Billion Rising’ which is the largest grassroots movement to end violence against women in human history. It is noteworthy that Alexandre Paulikevitch choreographed the dance for this song while Wafa Halawi directed the video clip with participation of the Lebanese actress Nada Abou Farhat.
Source: Al Akhbar, 29 May, 2013

Nawaya Network’s recently launched a social networking site, set to be fully functional by June 10, which seeks to connect disadvantaged youth to professional and recreational opportunities outside their immediate areas.
Nawaya network will connect disadvantaged, marginalized or at-risk youth, with resources to help them pursue their passions, develop certain skills and talents, through an online route to increase the likelihood of both finding youth in need of their services and opportunities, and of finding the companies, institutions and mentors that can provide them.
The resource base includes the various institutional partners of the network such as universities, sports academies, businesses, as well as individuals. Members of this network will be able to browse individual youth applicant according to the interest, and will facilitate linkages in order to achieve the desired goals and based on the six online options offered by the website. It is to be noted that services will be provided to all youth applicants regardless of their Arab nationality (Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian) as well to youths belonging to foreign migrant communities. (The Daily Star 29 May 2013)

RDFL organised in collaboration with the women commission of the bar association a training workshop on CEDAW and Lebanese laws.  The workshop which was funded by Kvinna till Kvinna and targeted women lawyers only, was opened by the president of the women commission of the bar association, Asma Hamade, who talked about the importance of spreading the human rights culture amongst lawyers.  The vice president of RDFL, Caroline Slaibi, gave a comprehensive presentation of CEDAW and emphasized some of the key clauses namely the definition of discrimination (clause 1), combating trafficking and prostitution (clause 6), equality in participation in political life (clause 7), and equality in the family (article 16 which is under reservation by the Lebanese government).  She also highlighted some aspects of women's rights which have not been mentioned by the convention namely reproductive and sexual rights, protection from all forms of violence, and the rights of the girl child.
Manar Zeiater, a lawyer member of RDFL, presented in her intervention the foundations of the international human rights convention and pointed out to those laws which still discriminate against women namely labor laws, the penal code, family laws, laws dealing with honor crimes, adultery, negative discrimination vis-à-vis women in cases of rape and abduction, and finally the absence of laws to protect women from marital rape.
The workshop was concluded with a presentation by a member of RDFL, Carmel Mhanna, on the law proposal to protect women from domestic violence as well as Lebanon's commitments to CEDAW.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

The outgoing Minister of Social Affairs launched last week in Rashaya the IT literacy centre which will aim at contributing to the creation of new work opportunities in that rural areas.  The event was held under the auspices of the Ministry and in collaboration with the local union of municipalities which hosted the event and the Lebanese Association for Rural Development.  The setting up of this IT center comes within the framework of the national programme for adult education which is managed by Nehmat Geagea who indicated that IT advances now require more knowledge and familiarity with the technology.  Minister Abou Faour noted the speed with which the programme was implemented so that it is able to provide work opportunities in remote areas. The training centre will also aim at encouraging work and employment at home.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

4500 women took part yesterday in the women's challenge marathon which was organised by the Beirut Marathon Association.  The event which received high media coverage, bore the slogan "she is really strong" and was under the auspices of First Lady Wafa Suleiman with the participation of a number of civil and environmental activists, supporters of women's political quotas, women candidates for the next elections, sports and social associations, politicians, ministers and parliamentarians.  This marathon aimed at challenging discrimination against women and at insisting on women's rights and freedom from physical and moral violence. Participating women runners included a variety of people: professional and amateurs, women with special needs, mothers with their children and a special delegation from Tripoli who launched a petition signing activity calling for peace and end of violence in Tripoli.

Source: Al-Hayat, Al-Safir 27 May 2013

On 24 May 2013, six women members of "Women in Front" lodged their candidacy for the next elections as per the procedures required by the Ministry of Interior and Municipality.  These women are amongst the 20 women who received training in communication at the French Cultural Centre in Beirut.
Joel Abou Farhat Rizkallah, one of the founders of Women in Front, noted that the six candidates bear no confessional, geographical or any other consideration, adding that a total of 9 women have until now submitted their candidacy versus 79 male candidates thus signaling an increase in candidacy compared to the previous round.
The responsible of the cultural department of the French Centre, Aurelien le Chevalier, reiterated the continuous interest of the French government in supporting women in political life and in elections.  The French ambassador, Patrice Paoli, also indicated that there is a general will to support women's right, noting the limited participation of women in Lebanese political life.

Source: Al-Nahar 25 May 2013

YWCA celebrated last week the graduation of 16 women and men students who completed an extensive training in domestic health care and organised at the YWCA premises in Ain Mreisseh. The training workshop extended over 3 months and entitles graduates to take care of elderly as well as infants.  The workshop was implemented with the support of Ajialoona, the EPY Educating Palestinian Youth and Moosawat association. The head of the YWCA, Aida Naaman Abdelsamad emphasized in her keynote address the importance of empowering young women and men with skills and with a trade so that they are able to find work that can secure a decent income.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

L’Orient le Jour interviewed Juliana Najem, the director of IMS (Institute of Management & Services) which is part of the PRODES (Promotion et Development Social) association that seeks to strengthen social development in Lebanon through supporting women work in the area of rural tourism as well as in setting up social, developmental, cultural and touristic projects in all areas of Lebanon.
Najem noted that the purpose of setting up IMS in 2004 was to provide vocational training in business and rural tourism as well as to help women students in implementing their projects and linking them with tourism companies, civil society organisations, and municipalities.  She added that the project allowed some 600 women to take part in training workshops.  In addition, 30 women with small enterprises were able to consult with expert so as to improve their skills and the quality of their products.
Finally, Najem concluded by saying that the main aim of IMS and PRODES is to support rural families in generating income and maintain rural traditions, adding that the two organisations have also helped in the setting up the “network of Lebanese women in rural areas” in order to strengthen exchanges and communication amongst women.

Source: L’Orient Le Jour 23 May 2013

The AUL orientation and employment office in collaboration with the hospitality and hotel management department organised yesterday its ninth job fair entitled: “Scientific spécialisations and the needs of the job market”. The job fair was held at the university campus in Beirut with the participation of 70 companies from the trade, financial, tourism and industrial sectors in addition to the participation of the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. The event was attended by the University Chair of the Board Moustafa Hamzeh, the teaching and administrative bodies, heads of companies and representatives of trade unions. During the event, some 540 students submitted applications for employment to the participating companies.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 22 May 2013