News

The women section of the Al 3azm movement organised a training workshop on business etiquette targeting women managers from several sectors.  The event was organised yesterday at the Al 3azm educational complex in Tripoli.  The workshop included lectures through Skype by Jinane and Giovanni Anous from California.  This was followed by an address from the responsible of the 3azm movement women section, Jinan Mobayyed followed by a Q and A session.The event was organised within the framework of a series of activities organised by the women section and which seek to build women’s skills and upgrade their work capacities.  The training events highlight subjects such as work environment, improving performance and communication amongst women employees and between women employees and clients.

Source: Al-Nahar 24 April 2013

An Nahar newspaper published an article by Azza Sharara where she argues that women’s work is gainful both at a personal and relational level although it has not curbed gender based violence and discrimination.

The researcher begins by defining working women according to the recent report published by the Central Administration for Statistics according to whom 23% of women above 15 years of age work compared to 73% for men within the same age category.  This percentage, according to CAS, increases to 47% for the 25 to 24 age group and drops again afterwards before settling on the overall average or slightly lower for the subsequent age groups. The researcher added that the percentage of non-married working women is 57%, compared to less than 35% to married women and university degrees women holders is 47% of the total women in the work force.
Sharara argues that these figures relate mostly to non-married women and the youth as these are the most prone to work.  This may also denote that women tend to leave work after marriage and after having children so as to take care of their families.

Sharara then structure her articles around six points.  First, she points put to the issue of economic independence and indicates that whereas more than 50% of working women contribute to household expenses, this does not protect them from violence.  Many women, she notes, are not aware of their husbands’ income which constitutes one aspect of violence.  The second issue relates to the work pressures that women face including gender based discrimination and sexual harassment although studies indicate that working women enjoy better mental health and show lesser signs of depression.

In terms of housework and caring for children, the researcher notes in her third and fourth chapters that  working women bear the brunt of housework thus assuming a double responsibilities within and outside the household.  However, the researcher notes that women’s work outside the household has further confirmed the importance of women’s household work and led to an understanding that housework and caring for the family can indeed be construed as ‘true’ work and not as a “natural role”.  As such, house-workers deserve to be paid and to enjoy benefits as any kind of work.  Sharara argues that the common idea that the children of working women perform poorly academically is simply a myth that is convenient for those with conservative views of gender roles.

In terms of equality and violence, Sharara adds that working outside the home provides women with self confidence and emancipation but may not lead to gender equality except for those who hold upper level jobs.  She also notes that women victims of violence often surpass their abusers in their education and/or career achievements.  She concludes by confirming that violence against women is not necessarily linked to whether women work or not and by comparing working and non working women and indicates that working women have more interest in public affairs and tend to follow news on the media much more.
To read the full article please click on the following link, knowing that it is found in the Arabic Language only.

Source: Al-Nahar 8 April 2013

Al Amal Association concluded last week its vocational training programme implemented in 2011 and 2012 consisting of literacy classes, hairdressing, cloth repairs, and custom jewelry making with a ceremony to distribute diplomas on 799 graduates from the women prison in Al Kobbeh.  The event was organised in collaboration with the Tripoli municipality, Safadi Association and Diakonia and within the framework of its programme entitled “rehabilitation at rebuilding the social fabric at the women prison in Tripoli” which started in 2008.  The vocational training allowed women to acquire skills which will enable them to find jobs and use the incarceration period positively as well as empower inmates and prevent recidivism.  The organizers consider that the programme provides an opportunity for women to become self sufficient once they serve their sentence.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal 22 April 2013

The Sagesse University organised its 11th jobs forum under the auspices of the president of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Nehmat Efram and with the participation of 75 institutions from the health, media, and banking, industry and commerce sectors in addition to military and public institutions.  The aim of this forum was to introduce young people to opportunities on the local job market as well as link the job market with local human resources.  The forum also provides opportunities for direct interface between university students and the business sector.
Source: Al-Nahar, 22 April 2013

According to the 2013 World bank/IMF joint monitoring report, Lebanon has made headways in achieving some of the MDGs namely: gender equality in elementary and secondary education, decreasing infant mortality rates and mortality rates for children under 5.  The report is entitled “Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and MDGs” and was released yesterday in Washington DC.

The joint report also notes that the MENA region generally fared well in achieving 5 of the 9 MDGs namely decreasing poverty by half, decreasing infant and child mortality, improving access to sanitary services and improving health care and sanitary services.  The report also notes that the MENA region still lags behind in meeting the MDGs related to nutrition, completion of elementary education and gender equality in elementary education as well as access to safe drinking water.  The report indicates that delays in meeting these MDGs have been particularly noted during the past few years.
Source: Al-Akhbar 19 April 2013

To access the full report please click on the following link: Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and MDGs

The Ministry of Social Affairs launched in its premises yesterday its internal gender training programme within the framework of its programme entitled: “strengthening women in local governance” which is funded by the Italian embassy in Lebanon.  The representative of the Minister of Social Affairs, Dr. Bashir Osmat, spoke on behalf of the minister and noted that the Ministry will soon be adopting its own gender strategy which will guide its plans and programmes.  Osmat thanked the Italian Embassy for its support as well as the important work of the Collective for Research and Training on Development – Action which undertook an in-depth gender audit of the Ministry.
It is to be noted that with this initiative, MoSA would be the first public institution to have worked towards mainstreaming gender in its planning and implementation.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Safir 18 April 2013

A World Bank report released last week at the Economic and Social Council indicated that women constitute only 24% of the active population in Lebanon within a context of high unemployment rates especially amongst the youth.  According to the WB report this situation is largely due to the inherent weaknesses of the Lebanese economy notably at the level of the job market. .  The report which is entitled “Good jobs needed : the role of macro, investment, education, labor and social protection policies (MILES)”  notes that Lebanon needs to create 23,000 new jobs a year in order to meet employment demand as par of a comprehensive job creation strategy.  

The event was attended by the Minister of Labour, Selim Jreissati, the General Director of the Ministry of Finance, Alain Bifani, and the Economic and Social Council President Roger Nasnas. In addition to Ferid Belhaj, the Country Director at The World Bank, as well as the first vice-governor of the Banque du Liban Raed Charafeddine and others, with key note addresses by Nasnas, Belhaj, Bifani, and Jreissati.

Minister Jreissati pointed out for his part to the progress in the implementation of the “Youth first employment opportunity project” which he considers to be a first step in addressing the recommendations of the World Bank report.  He also added that social and economic policies in Lebanon require an enabling environment that ensures that political interests do not trespass citizens’ rights.

The report is the outcome of a three years collaboration between the World Bank and the Lebanese government within the framework of the Bank’s technical support and suggest a strategy to facilitate the coordination of investment, labor, capacity building and social protection policies aiming to strengthen job creation, consolidate the economy, curtail unemployment and gradually direct economic activity to highly productive sectors as well as facilitating access to social protection schemes.

The report is structured around three key axes, namely:
a)    The role of macroeconomic policies and investments;
b)    Employment and education;
c)    Social protection policies
As such, the report notes that despite the economic growth registered in Lebanon during the past decade, yet this growth was not coupled with the creation of sufficient jobs especially for women and youth.  For instance, between 1997 and 2009, the Gross Domestic Product increased by an annual average of 3.7% whereas job creation increased by 1.1% only.  Currently, 70% of men in their productive age are working versus 24% women.  In addition, unemployment rates in Lebanon are relatively high reaching as high as 34% amongst the youth, 18% amongst women and 14% amongst university graduates.

Furthermore, the report estimated that there will be 23,000 new entries into the job market per year within the next decade.  This will necessitate the creation of six times more jobs than the 34,000 new jobs created during the period 2004-2007.

The report further states that the trend of job creation from 2004 to 2009 essentially focused on sectors requiring low skills such as trade (61%), service industry of low productivity (33%) and construction (10%).  On the other hand, there was a marked decline in jobs in highly productive sectors such as ICT, insurance, finance and other technical and scientific sectors.  The low productivity service sector provides employment to 35% of workers and 61% of self employed whereas the high productivity service sector provides employment to only 14% of workers and 3% of self employed.

The report highlights the key challenges to job creation namely: the limited skills pool quoting that 65% of workers are high school degree holders or even less, migration of highly skilled workers and the influx of low skilled labor.  Despite the dearth of national statistics, the report refers to the migration of 200,000 to 400,000 between people between 1991 and 2009.

The report also points out to the growth of the informal sector and the shrinking of the public sector.  It estimates that 20% of overall workers are active in the informal sector which does not provide social security or is regulated by labor laws.  On the other hand, 30% of the active population is self employed in low productivity activities.  This raises the question of the coverage and outreach of existing social protection schemes which do not include the self-employed and informal sector.

The report proposes various macroeconomic and investment policies and highlights a number of interventions that need to be taken on board by the state in order to mitigate risks, encourage investments and economic diversity namely: strengthening the financial system, decreasing reliance on loans, bridging the supply and demand price gap in bonds, investment in infrastructure namely electricity and water in order to decrease the cost of investment by the private sector, reviewing taxation policies which are harmful to investments and do not encourage job creation, strengthening the capacities of creative entrepreneurs especially through increasing their access to finances for small and medium scale businesses.  Finally, the report also recommends the application of effective industrial policies so as to direct investment towards sectors that have a high added value.

To find the full report please click on the following link: "Good jobs needed : the role of macro, investment, education, labor and social protection policies (MILES)"

Source: Al-Akhbar 8 April, Al-Safir, The Daily Star 12 April 2013

The president of Bader group, MP Robert Fadel, and the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Business Gathering for the Arab World Ms. Hala Fadel, organised an event  to celebrate Bader’s 8th anniversary.  Eight business entrepreneurs who were supported by the event organizers were honored for the occasion.  These included; Ramzi Jalbout for his project (Krocs), Rana Shmaitelli (little engineer), Raja Mouawad (Ovis), hind hobaika (Instabeat), Youssef Fares (Olivertrade), Souad Merhbi (Gamabox), Elie Shaaba (Edulabe), Maya Nohra the winner of Bader’s scholarship, and Thouraya Oumwaka for her documentary “Tomorrow, we’ll see”.

In his keynote address, Fadel highlighted the importance of having a national vision for strengthening economic growth which ought to include support to small and medium enterprises through the provision of start-up and growth incentives especially in sectors which bear growth potentials.  Fadel then shared the achievements of Bader during the past few years in the areas of financing, training, counseling as well as organizing workshops on the principles and tools for drafting workplans which have benefited 350 business entrepreneurs in 2012.  In addition, Bader set up a clinic for small and medium enterprises for individual business entrepreneur so that they can benefit from free business advice from experts in many fields in addition to the provision of university scholarships of more than 200,000 USD for those wishing to specialize in business development.

Hala Fadel of MIT noted for her part that her organization is persisting in organizing its context for the best business plan in the Arab world and that for the past eight years.  She also noted that 30% of the 4000 annual applicants come from Lebanon adding that Lebanese nominees won the first prize amounting to USD 50,000 three out of six times.
Source: Al-Diyar 17 April 2013

For news related to Bader activities, please review:

Bader and Audi Bank launch the emerging enterprises competition 02-04-2013
Financing is the major challenge to youth entrepreneurship in Lebanon 25-03-2013