News

Committed  defender of women’s rights, 29-year-old Nadine Jouni succumbed  yesterday in a car accident on  the Damour-Saida highway a few hours before her anticipated participation in the sit-in in downtown Beirut to protest deteriorating living conditions. The young woman is part of the National Campaign to Raise the Age of Custody within the Shiite Community and a fierce activist of women’s rights. Her persistent struggle in this area is a result of personal suffering and life with an abusive husband who prohibited her from seeing her only son ‘Karam’ after her divorce. Recalling, Nadine served as a media officer and women’ rights campaigner. She worked with Abaad and was as a facilitator and lobbyist for the wide campaigns launched by the organization advocating the rights of women and underage girls. She was the architect of many virtual campaigns and street demonstrations against the rape of underage girls (‘Shame on Who’) and against the marriage of child marriage  (‘Not before 18’). (Al Diyar, Al Akhbar, October 7, 2019)
 

In an unprecedented move, the Saudi defense ministry opened the door for the enlistment of women for different military ranks as private soldier, sergeant and corporal. The ministry called on women wishing to serve to apply through the united acceptance portal for all conditions and procedures of admission and recruitment. To note, that Saudi women access to the military is not new, but it is first for the sectors of the Armed Forces across the four branches, ranging from soldier ranks to senior ranks. Recalling, Saudi women have been allowed last year to join the security forces across different areas within the ministry of interior. (Al Diyar, October 4, 2019)
 
 

In partnership with EuroMed Feminist Initiative, the Lebanese Women’s Democratic Gathering organized on Friday a ‘Dialogue Space’ under the theme, ‘How long will women in Lebanon remain refugees?’ The event which aimed to spotlight young women in Lebanon active in politics and the public life, is part of a larger project entitled ‘Strengthening access to protection, participation and services for women refugees, IDPs and host communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.” The first round of the two-session dialogue urged women in political parties to share their experiences in incorporating and implementing gender-sensitive policies hands on. The second session focused on women's experiences and challenges they faced after achieving senior positions in business.(NNA, October 4, 2019)
 

President Michel Aoun stressed that he will not relinquish a national industry struggling to survive and that will support it by all means, pledging to revive the productive sectors. This he explained will help shift the economy from rentier based to a productive economy to protect the Lebanese industry and limit importation. Aoun was speaking to the industry minister Wael Abu Faour and a delegation of the Lebanese Industrialists Association (LIA) led by chief Fadi Gemayel, who visited him yesterday.  He said the initial measures taken by the cabinet to promote and protect domestic industry has reaped positive outcomes, pointing to further actions to be introduced to this effect. For his part, Abu Faour presented the findings of an initial industrial survey on the available jobs, revealing some 3,850,00 prospects in the industrial sectors targeting youth. These include 1,850,00 vacancies with specific job descriptions to be posted as of Monday on the LIA and the industry ministry’s electronic portals. In a related development, Abu Faour who was speaking during the opening of ‘Supporting Agro-Industries: A Fundamental Choice for a Better Future’ conference held at the Serail, said the sector needs one thousand jobs. The sector is very vital, Abu Faour said, and the total value of its exports in 2017 accounted for nearly 23.7% of the volume of industrial exports, but which dropped to 21.11% in 2018 and to 20.5% in the first six months of the current year. Similarly, LIA president Gemayel maintained that the agro food industries require extensive study and attention to prepare them to invade various markets and boost their exports in light of the trade openness and globalization. The industry, Gemayel concluded, is a local benchmark that measures the success of the state in the development of an economic model unlike the one adopted in the past and which has proved its failure. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, October 3, 2019)
 

A ceremony was held yesterday at Shukri Ghanem Barracks in Fayadiyeh to introduce a new cohort of women soldiers who completed their training period, in the presence of Acting Commander of Mount Lebanon Brigadier General Afif Saleh, representing Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. In his address to the soldiers, Saleh said their pledge to the Lebanese Armed Forces motto of ‘honor, sacrifice and loyalty” infuses a new spirit of determination, youth and vigor to the Military and is a testimony to the military establishment’s commitment to justice and equality among all citizens. Saleh added that the Army has had many achievements in increasing women enrollment at all levels, noting that women volunteers have achieved great outcomes, especially in the medical, logistic and administrative areas. He urged them to enhance their self-confidence and work for self-development in order to face challenges responsibly, constantly and patiently. (Al Diyar, October 3, 2019)
 

The first tournament of women’s football league kicked off in Sudan on September 30 with a game between two Khartoum-based teams. The event was watched by crowds of fans and diplomatic figures who cheered on the stadiums. Noting, that the League includes 21 teams from all over the North African country and the match was announced this August in a move unprecedented under the rule of toppled President Omar Bashir. Commenting on this development, the new minister of youth and sports, Walaa Issam, described it as a ‘historic day not only for sports but for Sudan as a whole’. “We, at the ministry, will give special attention to women’s sports in general, and particularly to the women’s football infrastructure,” Issam said. For his part, the head of the Sudan Scholars Association, Mohamad Uthman Saleh, remarked saying, the forces of freedom have a clear agenda to secularize the state through changing the Sudanese society norms in every way up to the religious beliefs of the country. He pointed out that the timing of the launch of the women’s football league is evident of the becoming secular state. Saleh clarified that although Islamic teachings allow women to practice sports, however they restrict them to health and decency related limitations. “Men watching women playing football with revealing clothes is not permissible”, Saleh concluded. (Al Diyar, October 3, 2019)
 

In collaboration with UNDP and the ministry of environment, the National Commission for Lebanese Women, NCLW, held yesterday a workshop on ‘Gendered Response to Climate Policies’ with the participation of gender focal points in various public departments. The workshop aims to set a common concept for climate change and gender notions, as well as understand the role of gender responsive adaptation to climate change and the effective implementation of the nationally determined contribution to this end. It also seeks to search prospects to integrate the notion of gender into the policy-making process and consultations by ministries. (NNA, October 2, 2019)