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From Beijing: Obstacles impeding the advancement of Lebanese women

22-9-2017

The minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, said on Wednesday that despite the progress brought about since Lebanon’s accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), yet many obstacles continue to constrain the advancement of women, mainly in legal issues. Ogassapian was speaking at the Chinese-Arab Women’s Forum organized by the All-China Women’s Federation in Beijing. In his speech, ‘Mobilizing women forces and sharing in the building of the Silk Road’, Ogassapian pointed out that his ministry has in a 6-month record time completed the development of the national strategy for gender equality aimed to promote the status of women in all arenas in compliance with Lebanon’s commitment to implementation of CEDAW. Accordingly, Ogassapian said, his ministry seeks to remove discriminatory provisions and legislations and set a comprehensive work plan based on the national strategy in order to achieve the desired change commensurate with international agreements. He further stressed the need to adopt a participatory approach between nations to step up gender equality and realize the sustainable development agenda for the year 2030. While commending the Lebanese Parliament’s endorsement of the right of a married woman to run for municipal elections at her hometown before marriage, Ogassapian regretted in a statement that this amendment was incomplete. He recalled that on July 29 he submitted to the Cabinet a draft bill requesting the adjustment of some prejudiced provisos related to municipal elections as noted above demanding respect of the right of a married woman to retain her membership in the municipal council after marriage and the subsequent transfer of her registry to her husband’s town. He also reminded of his request to allocate a minimum 30% representation quota for women in the municipal councils, demanding the Legislature to ratify proposed amendments to the effect of empowering Lebanese women and bolstering their presence in these councils. (Al Mustaqbal, September 21, 2017)

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