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2018 elections: Hariri & Mashnuk support women’s right to confer nationality

24-4-2018

During one of his elections tours yesterday, the minister of interior, Nuhad Mashnuk, expressed his support for women’s right to confer nationality to their children, promising to treat this topic as a priority in the post elections period. And in his response to the draft bill proposed last March 21 by the current foreign minister and which exempted women married to men from neighboring states from this right (c.f: https://bit.ly/2pHk2lB), Mashnuk maintained that the nationality should be given without conditions no matter what. Also, prime minister Saad Hariri during his meeting with economic blocs yesterday, stressed the need for investing in Lebanon’s youth, noting that a key investment should be in Lebanese women. He reiterated his backing for women’s rights in granting nationality to their children, saying, “My mother is an Iraqi citizen, and if it were the opposite, I would not be here today. We must break free from such uptight mentalities and give women the right to pass citizenship to their family members,” hoping one day a woman will be on top of the cabinet of ministers. (Al Mustaqbal, April 24, 2018)

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Premier Hariri calls for a revolution in favor of women’s rights

23-4-2018

Prime minister Saad Hariri said on Friday that national partnership needs men, but also requires the presence of women and their conquest of decision-making positions occupied usually by their male peers in the public and private sectors. He stressed that the country calls for a legal revolution that gives women their dispossessed rights. Hariri was speaking during an elections festival organized by the Future Movement’s Women’s Sector at Beirut Seaside Arena, under the title, ‘Our women candidates for the 2018 Legislative’, in the presence of the Future movement nominees from all over Lebanon, namely: Rola Jarudi Tabsh, Dima Jamali, Leila Shahud and Marie Jean Babekian, in addition to a crowd of female activists. Hariri pointed out that the Future Movement women are no less effective or competent than men, and that their participation in the leadership of the Movement is unquestionable. In the Future’s General Congress, Hariri maintained, "I want to see an exceptional contribution by women. Also, I want to see women in the Executive Bureau, and in the various sectors and coordination departments.” As such, he concluded, “we can prepare the grounds for the desired civilized political action and for real change in the political structure of the country.” (AL Mustaqbal, An Nahar, Al Diyar, April 21, 2018)

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Siham Antoon and Ghada Assaf, women candidates for education advancement

23-4-2018

In its continuous backing of women’s nomination for parliamentary elections, L’Orient Le Jour spotlighted the career life of Siham Antoon, the independent leftist candidate for Baalbaq-Hermel and Ghada Assaf, candidate of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in the same constituency. Al Akhbar newspaper also published an interview with Communist Party nominee, Antoon, to shed light on her progressive struggle. Antoon said that, after completing her studies in France, she returned to Lebanon and worked in the field of education, disclosing that victory in the upcoming elections would not be easy under an existing confessional ruling establishment. But, in the event of winning, she will focus on the advancement of education, the development of the Baalbek-Hermel district, building a civil state, expanding production, promoting investment, crafts and trade, as well as, legalizing the cultivation and production of cannabis for medicinal uses. Assaf, on the other hand, from the Beqaa town of Tamnin, is a passionate advocate and political bureau member of the FPM. She graduated from France and is currently the French language coordinator at Tamnin Tahta Highschool. In the event of winning the elections, Assaf maintained that she will work to free the women of Beqaa from dominating gender stereotypes and will stress the pivotal role of education. She also pledged to implement the aspirations of her idol, President Michel Aoun. (L’Orient Le Jour, April 21, 23, 2018)

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MWDWs lay down on airport floor awaiting their sponsors

20-4-2018

In a special feature today, Al Akhbar newspaper shed light on a fact visible at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport where migrant women domestic workers cannot find decent seats and are forced to sit on the floor awaiting the arrival of their sponsors which might drag on for days sometimes. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to an Airport officer who pointed out that as many as three to four planes carrying over 100 MWDWs land daily at the airport. The workers, he said, sit on the floor because there are not enough seats to accommodate them, especially that the airport facility lacks waiting rooms equipped to receive passengers who are forced to wait indefinitely. The head of the Public Information Office at the General Security, Brigadier General Nabil Hanoun, revealed to Al Akhbar that the task of his department is limited to stamping passports and completing routine transactions, relinquishing the responsibility of finding places to seat an exceptionally large number of travelers. On the other hand, the Airport head, Fadi Hassan, denied having any details on what the newspaper described as ‘slave labor or trade’ in the ‘land of honey and milk”. (Al Akhbar, April 20, 2018)

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Trolleys for easing the burden of women porters in Ceuta “enclave”

19-4-2018

Following a series of deadly incidents and under pressure from human rights organizations, the Spanish authorities and merchants of the Spanish colony of Ceuta located in northern Morocco, reached an arrangement earlier in April allowing women porters to use trolleys. Prior to this agreement, thousands of ‘mule women’ were overburdened by the goods they carried on their backs from Ceuta into Morocco for traders who sought to benefit from customs exemptions on items transferred by pedestrians. The said measure aims to ease the back-breaking and humiliating hard labor by women who carried weights exceeding their own bodyweight. Women complying by the initiative, described it as a good thing, particularly for those with health problems. One woman, in her forties, and a mother of two, said she entered Ceuta twice a week coming from Tatwan (in the North) to arrive back with bags of merchandise which she delivered to local merchants for nearly 20 Euros. But today, she boasted, she employs her two-wheel trolley while she waits to pass routine checks at the pedestrian border checkpoint. (Al Hayat, April 19, 2018)

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Mother slays daughter in Khaldeh for “family reason”

19-4-2018

In the latest incidents of violence against women, a Syrian mother killed her daughter in Khaldeh suburb of Beirut yesterday for family reason, as she admitted. After receiving a call about a crime, the Aramun Regional Gendarmerie Unit dispatched a patrol to the scene where they discovered the dead body of Syrian national T.H (female, 19 years) inside the house with her mother (38 years) sitting next to her. Upon investigation with the culprit, the mother confessed that she strangled her daughter with her own hands, administered an electric shock into her body and finished her crime by smothering her with a pillow. (Al Mustaqbal, April 19, 2018)

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Saudi reforms on women: a "revolution" or just adaptation to the pace of time!?

18-4-2018

Al Diyar newspaper published a feature by Sputnik news agency on the recent decrees by Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdel Aziz to revolutionize the lives of Saudi women, including granting them permission to drive and giving them the Isma in marriage and travel among other changes. Sputnik asked if such decisions bring about a real transformation of the conservative notions or are a mere adaptation to a changing world. To answer the question, Sputnik conducted a poll targeting men in the Kingdom to explore their reaction to the unprecedented royal orders. One young Saudi man, in his twenties, and a ministry employee, described as “historic” the decision allowing Saudi females to drive which strengthens their independence, but he voiced concern over the decision to give women the Isma in marriage and travels. Another man in his forties, who works at a company, said he did not object to women working at a mixed environment, provided they observe respect and decency. He stressed the need for women to break free from fear and traditions and to increase their self-confidence. (Al Diyar, April 17, 2018)

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Bipod honors Lebanese ballerina Georgette Gebara

18-4-2018

Within the Beirut International Platform of Dance, Bipod, the Maqamat Dance Theatre honored yesterday the Lebanese ballerina, academic and choreographer Georgette Gebara for her contribution to founding and development of the classical ballet dance in Lebanon. Gebara received to this end the Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2018 during a ceremony held at Sursok Museum. After thanking the festival organizers, Gebara pointed out that usually, in the world of art, there is a big deal of egotism especially in the absence of recognition and credit. For her part, Bipod director, Mia Habis, said Gebara has aimed at the societal mindset, shaking and questioning the authority of preconceived inherited thoughts, and proving that one can really become a professional dancer in this country and employ dancing not only as a career, but as a swift and effective tool for change. Screenings followed which illuminated Gebara’s experience. (Al Hayat, April 18, 2018)

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L’Oreal honors 20 scientific female researchers

17-4-2018

The L’Oréal Foundation celebrated on March 22, the 20th anniversary of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science program at UNESCO Paris headquarters. Five women were honored for their major scientific contributions in the fields of medicine, paleontology, molecular biology and ecology, in addition to, 15 female rising scientific talents. To recall, over the past 20 years, the L’Oréal-UNESCO program has spotlighted 102 winners and supported more than 3000 young and 102 female scientists, including 3 Nobel women Laureates, sparking greater appreciation for them within the scientific community. And, in order to further collaboration between men and women, the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO launched the ambitious new initiative, ‘Male Champions for Women in Science’. The latter will involve male leaders through a charter of commitments to encourage them to work with their female colleagues, and hence change the system and employ women potential for the benefit of all. (The full names of winning laureates and honored women scientists can be found on the following link: https://goo.gl/adK7TF). (Al Akhbar, April 17, 2018)

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Encouraging Marje3yoon women to participate in the upcoming elections

17-4-2018

As part of the ongoing preparations for the May parliamentary elections, Princess Nadwa Harfoush Khatib, wife of Future candidate for the Sunni seat on the Marje3yoon-Hasbaya district, held a gathering for the women of Arkoob, Hasbaya and Marje3yoon in Shab3a last Sunday. Harfoush, on the occasion, praised the role of women in the development and advancement of society, stressing the need to give them their rights in various areas of life, particularly in this specific part of Lebanon. For his part, Khatib hailed the distinctive social role of women, urging them to participate extensively in the parliamentary elections set for May 6. (Al Mustaqbal, April 17, 2018)

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