News

Al Nahar newspaper published a report on the "first employment opportunities for youth" programme which was just launched by the National Employment Office last month (c.f. newsbrief of 11 September 2012 on WEEPortal).  The aim of this project is to reduce unemployment and immigration amongst the youth, according to Mr. Ziad Sayegh, the ILO advisor on national policies and head of the Ministry of Labour Task Force.
Mr. Sayegh also indicated that one key objective of the project is to challenge barriers that youth face in seeking and finding work through strengthening partnerships with the private sector for reducing youth unemployment. The project will be implemented in several consecutive phases. The first phase will focus on eligibility criteria and submitting requests. The second phase will focus on selecting participants and training them by the National Employment Office and NGOs. In the third phase, participants who would have completed the training cycle will receive a special project card which will allow her/his prospective employer to recover the NSSF contribution (21.5% of monthly salary) for two years with a reduction in recovery during the second year.  In the last phase of the project, a joint working group composed of experts from the World Bank and the Ministry of Labour will evaluate the efficacy of the project and its impact on beneficiaries.  
Sayegh indicated that the Lebanese government has allocated a budget of LBP 10 billion towards this project whilst the World Bank will provide up to another LBP 1.5 billion to cover additional expenses.

Source: Annahar 25 October 2012

The Parliament continues to stonewall in endorsing the proposed "domestic violence protection bill" despite the fact that women are paying the price of this delay, sometimes with their life. Al Akhbar newspaper published a report on a domestic violence victim called Mona from Saida, who committed suicide through intake of a combination of medical drugs simply to get away from the excessive violence and brutality of her husband. However, the judiciary for its part acquitted the husband who had admitted to the police that he abused his wife regularly.  Following the acquittal and in attempt to justify his decision, Judge Bilal Halaoui said that that Mona's suicide cannot be directly attributed to her constant abuse by her husband, but was rather a voluntary act. The husband was released from custody based on clause 564 of the penal code which stipulates no cause for keeping him in custody.
On a related vein, An Nahar newspaper pointed out to a more positive view of masculinity where recent approaches seem to favor engaging men in combating violence against women.  In its report, An Nahar highlighted the work of three organisations that have adopted this approach namely Kafa, Abaad, and the Say No to Violence Coalition.

Source: Al-Akhbar and Annahar of 25 October 2012)

The Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) held last week a meeting at the Municipality in Saida within the framework of operationalizing the National Strategy for Women.  The meeting was attended by the gathering of NGOs in Saida, representatives of political forces, women and civil society organisations and individual women and human rights activists.

The event was organized in collaboration with the development services centre of MOSA in Saida with discussions focusing on the objectives of the strategy, challenges and planned interventions, in addition to obstacles faced by the participant organisations.

Source: Annahar 24 October 2012

Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP)  organized last week, in collaboration with Diakonia, a second seminar within the framework of its new programme entitled " women in decision making at the local level in Lebanon", The seminar was organized in Al Ryak in the Beqaa with the attendance of 30 women and activists. Rola Zaiter, member of the Rassemblement Democratique des Femmes Libanaise, spoke about the important role that women play in education, at home and within society at large.  The programme coordinator, Rabih Kays, presented the objectives of the programme and introduced Mr. Antoine Messara, the member of the association’s executive committee who, in turn, presented a lecture entitled “Reviving the Lebanese heritage to support women's human rights - the case of Laure Moghaizel".
This programme which begun earlier this month (see news brief posted on WEEPortal on 9 October 2012) aims at improving women's representation in local and civil society in addition to improving women's political participation and supporting human rights and women's rights in addition to supporting national cohesion and also securing a path for women to reach social harmony, peace and security. A follow up seminar will be held on the forthcoming 3 and 4th November with other seminars planned in North Lebanon and Mount Lebanon.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 24 October 2012

Rashayya public hospital will shortly launch its new "Mother and Health Child Programme" after having serviced more than 100 women in its out-patient clinic during the first phase of the project.  The initiative is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and with the support of the Italian international development programme.  This project targets women and provides free medical consultations which include 6 pre-natal visits, post natal consultations, various lab tests including blood tests as well as screening for diabetes, hepatitis, MRI in addition to health education and vaccination to the new born and the setting up of a health record for new born children.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 24 October 2012

On the occasion of the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives, media attention has lately focused on the situation of the cooperative sector in Lebanon. In that context, Assafir newspaper published last Saturday two articles covering this sector. The first pointed out to the challenges facing that sector mainly in the Beqaa, where promises that had arisen as a result of the setting up of the cooperatives were not fulfilled, whereas the second article focused on the reality of cooperatives in Nabatieh area, highlighting some other challenges but also success stories.

The first report stated that a large number of cooperatives were established only to attract donations of international donors and national organizations. The President of the Cooperative Union in Lebanon, Dr. Rida Al-Mayss, told “Assafir”, that hundreds of cooperatives that were formally established during the past years largely failed in implementing any development project let alone to set up a permanent structure. Dr. Al-Mayss praised the recent decisions of Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan, to revoke the registration of hundreds of inactive cooperatives and to provide financial aid to the active ones.

The second article also focused on the harsh reality facing the cooperatives in Nabatieh, pointing out to major challenges such the absence of cooperation culture, obsolete cooperative  laws and regulations, lack of markets, absence of support and the unavailability of bank loans with low interest rates.
Yet and despite all these difficulties, the article identified a number of active cooperatives such as the Arab Saleem food processing women cooperative. This rural women cooperative was established to support women of low income, to increase their productive capacities and to achieve women empowerment. This cooperative produces a wide range of products such as jams, pickles, thyme, olives, distillates, and have received support from several national and international organizations, such as YMCA, UNDP and CRTD.A (with funding from CIDA). CRTDA is currently providing support in the form of capcity building and in-kind assistance.  The cooperative is also member of the recently-established union of marketing cooperative, named “Namlieh” which is located in Beirut.

Source: Assafir - Assafir 20 October 2012

The women association of Arsoon organized on 21st of October, its 23rd exhibition of tradition preserved food products at village social center, attended by a number of local women organizations along with people of Arsoon. Following the screening of a documentary film on Arsoon, the President of the association, Ibtisaam Hreiz, expressed her deep appreciation for the efforts exerted by women of Arsoon in preparing for the event, indicating that the association have persisted in organizing this annual event at the end of each summer when women villagers get down to the business of preparing the traditional mooneh under adequate heath safety conditions. (Al-Mustaqbal 23 October 2012)

The President of the union of restaurants and coffee shops establishments, Paul Ariss, resigned last Friday, after failing in amending the new anti-tobacco regulation. Ariss warned the government of serious consequences arising from his resignation, indicating that workers of the tourism sector will lead peaceful demonstrations to protest the on-going destruction of the most significant industry in Lebanon,
Ariss also added that one cannot understand how parliamentarians allow themselves to smoke in their offices while banning smoking in public places while destroying tourism and the hospitality sector. He indicated that his union will resort to escalation if parliament does not positively respond to the demands of workers and employees.
Furthermore, he emphasized the intolerable losses suffered by the sector particularly since the restaurants have recoded almost no reservations on the Adha occasion, and Coffee shops and restaurants have each witnessed a decrease of 60% and 70% respectively. He concluded by saying that more than one thousand employees are threatened to lose their jobs, and that this latter figure may rise to 23,000 employees if the government does not amend the tobacco regulation.

Source: Assafir, Annahar 20 October 2012

In an article published in Al-Akhbar newspaper, Hassan Shakarani draws comparisons between the Lebanese and the Japanese economies stressing the importance on enhancing women’s role in the economy as a strategic option for sustaining growth. Shakarani reviewed the various factors preventing women’s access to leading managerial posts and recommended measures to boost their participation in the job market. In comparison to the Japanese model where women’s participation amounts is of around 63% - a percentage which is generally considered law - the Lebanese model represents a much worse image since women participation in the Lebanese job market amounts to only 25%.
Former Minister of Labor and Social & Economic Researcher, Charbel Nahas, placed this low rate in the context of the chaotic job market in Lebanon where formal employment totals no more than 30% against 95% some in other countries.
As to the situation of women in particular, Nahas indicated that, despite the high proportion of women with higher education and the growing need for women labor in the job market, the level of economic participation of women remains low. Due to the high emigration rates, especially among the youth population, the Lebanese society is rapidly heading towards becoming an “old society” at a much quicker rate that our Arab counterparts according to data provided by the Arab Labor Organization. Therefore, Nahas believes that the Japanese experience can provide some insights on how to enhance women’s role in economic activities with the aim of tuning down the adverse effects of emigration and strengthening the growth of the economy.
For his part, Professor of Economy at the American University in Beirut, Jad Chaaban, said that measures aimed at reviving the Lebanese economy must start by reforming the labor law, while putting an end to the obvious prejudice against women and revoking all forms of discrimination against them such as in the cases of child-rearing and maternity leaves. Such actions will undoubtedly support women and will enhance their economic role.
Also according to Chaaban, the key problem relates to the limited size and quality of jobs created by the Lebanese society. Women’s high level of education pushes them to wait for a better paid job, which may never come. Thus, married women prefer staying at home and waiting for that bank transfer coming in from abroad rather than to work for a low wage. It is worthy noting that transfers of funds to Lebanon exceed 6.8 billion dollars annually.

Source: Al-Akhbar 18 October 2012