Subscribe to newsletter

Custom Search 1

You are here

Home

News updates

Egyptian women-headed households subjected to male traditions

15-3-2018

In a special feature today, Al Hayat newspaper spotlighted the women of Egypt, drawing attention to a study released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, CAPMAS, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Egyptian Woman’s Day which falls on March 16 and Mother’s Day on March 21. According to the study, nearly 14% of Egyptian households (in a total of 3.3 million) are headed by women, but this, nevertheless, does not manifest the pride, privilege, facilities or prestige received normally by the head of an institution. It is a premiership that leaves women swinging between their breadwinning role on the one hand, and confronting a patriarchal male-dominant society on the other, Al Hayat analyzed. And despite that women make 22% of the national workforce in Egypt, and that more than a quarter of public workers are females, and that the current government boasts the largest number of women ministers, (6 high-profile ministers), yet social change remains slack and sluggish in a community that persistently incarcerate its women and girls inside a web of entrenched religious and cultural traditions and values. For more on the feature, visit the link below: https://goo.gl/PS2rQ9. (AL Hayat, March 15, 2018)

Share on

Distinguished Lebanese author, feminist activist dies in Beirut

15-3-2018

The acclaimed Lebanese novelist and woman rights activist, Emily Nasrallah died in Beirut at the age of 87, just one day after the publishing of her newest book ‘The Beautiful Times’, leaving behind some 45 novels, short stories, poems and children’s books. Nasrallah was born in the southern town of Kfeir and studied at the American University of Beirut before joining Dar Al Sayyad staff in 1955 and starting a career in journalism far from politics. In 1962, she published her first book, ‘Toyur Aylul’ (Birds of September) which gained three literary awards and her books were translated into English and French. Her literature tackled village-emigration and village-city themes. Nasrallah was also a teacher, lecturer and activist in the field of women’s rights. She won several awards, notably, the Saeed Akl’e Prize, Fairuz Magazine Prize, Khalil Gibran award, IBBY Prize and the Goethe Medal, and received the Commander medal of the National Order of the Cedar from President Michel Aoun. (Al Hayat, March 15, 2018)

Share on

Kurdish TV channel for ME women’s liberation

15-3-2018

Coinciding with the International Women’s Day, the Kurdish women’s JIN TV station started a test broadcast from its offices and studios in Europe, Bashur- Kurdistan Iraq and Rojava- Kurdistan Syria. The women-only television’s slogan, ‘Women’s voice… the face of women’ sums up and accentuates its emancipatory human rights rhetoric in a region that has for long portrayed a woman as a minor against a free and complete human being, suffering multi-faceted discrimination and persecution. The multilingual broadcasting station (Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi and Assyrian) presents an ambitious attempt to launch an interactive women’s satellite platform. It serves as a communications network for women in the Middle East and the world at large and a forum to discuss complex issues of women’s liberation, in definition, mechanism and constraints impeding its realization. And despite the dominant Kurdish identity of the station, yet it certainly concerns every woman, regardless of her national, religious or ethnic background. For more on the subject, kindly visit the following link: https://goo.gl/BWqZeP. ( Al Hayat, March 15, 2018)

Share on

Media supports to women candidates and changing gender roles in culture and education

15-3-2018

In partnership with Konrad-Adenauer Beirut, the ministry of women’s affairs organized yesterday a training workshop on ‘preparing the media and political message to women candidates’ with the aim to provide them with consultation and promote their networking with media channels. The workshop helps the candidate identify the message she wants to convey to the targeted public, and to set a strategy of how to talk to the media, while noting that the activity comes as part of a work plan by above ministry to encourage women running for the upcoming parliamentary elections. On the other hand, and to mark the International Women’s Day, ASSABIL association jointly with UNIC-Beirut held yesterday a panel discussion entitled, ‘When a woman speaks: readings in 70 current books from Lebanon and 100 folk tales’. The debate was moderated by Lebanese author Najla Jreisati Khury who portrayed women in traditional stories and roles in society. During the activity, UN Women program coordinator, Jumana Zabaneh, highlighted the work of the agency in Lebanon referring to two recent studies, one on the concept of manhood in local society and the other on gender equality in Lebanon. The two studies, Zabaneh explained, show that there has been a slight and gradual change in the perception of stereotypical roles of men and women in the country, but that men still largely resist gender equality. Both studies recommended revising gender roles in educational curricula and children’s stories in order to reflect fairness and gender equality. (AL Mustaqbal, Al Akhbar, March 15, 2018)

Share on

Women speak out in Saida with US Embassy support

14-3-2018

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Lebanese Foundation for Empowerment, Networking and Advocacy (FENA) launched yesterday the ‘Women Speak Out’ study project, on the law of the protection of women and family members from domestic violence between reality and expectation. The project, which is in partnership with the US Embassy in Beirut- Local Grants Program, aims to promote awareness on the said law, support women, listen to victims of domestic violence and present legal consultation mechanisms. It is the first of its kind in Saida and the environs and in Iqlim al Kharoob, Nabatieh and Zahrani towns. On the study, FENA vice president, Bana Samra, said the opinion polls will shed light on violence incidents in the targeted region and explain how victims and the local community deal with the issue. She disclosed that female social workers have earlier this month started to fill the forms which are expected to end in July and the results published next August. Samra revealed that the field survey will focus on 100 cases of battered women and it will serve as a living model for monitoring the legal gaps and social restraints faced by the victims. The launch event, to note, took place at Saida Municipality Hall. (Al Akhbar, March 14, 2018)

Share on

Women Football festival on IWD

14-3-2018

In collaboration with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Lebanese Women Football Committee organized a big festival on Al Safa Club Stadium in Beirut with the participation of the Young Women’s League. The event reportedly achieved its desired technical, social and educational goals aimed at supporting women’s teams and strengthening their presence at the sports and feminist forums. The festivity provided an opportunity to foster the game across the country and inspire young girls and women to join through helping them to overcome all obstacles that inhibit women’s engagement in sports activities. (Al Mustaqbal, March 14, 2018)
 

Previous related news: 
Women’s football in Lebanon on the rise
IWD-2018: Women in Lebanon rally for legal reform
 

Share on

KAFA’s campaign against personal status law

13-3-2018

On the event of the International Women’s Day, Kafa, Enough Violence & Exploitation organization released a trailer for the documentary ‘Against Me’ depicting the impact of the sexist and discriminatory personal status law on Lebanese women. The film narrates the stories of 7 women from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds who advocate the scrapping of the patriarchal and confessional personal status laws and enactment of a united civil personal status system that treats every one equally. Commenting on the film, Kafa media officer, Diala Haidar, said the country has some 15 laws on personal status, and this subject has always been a challenge, a bitter one, in the Organization’s struggle. However, Haidar added, there is always a starting point. What was a taboo in the past is currently a subject of controversy, she said, stressing a determination to break the taboo. On the other hand, the General Directorate of Personal Status at the Interior Ministry issued on March 8 a Memo No. 23/2 asking the different civil registries to accept the requests to re-register widows under the names of their parents, provided the applications are submitted in person by the widower herself and that she has no children from her deceased husband. (Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, March 12, 13, 2018)

Share on

French Order of Merit to Mirna Ganajeh at USJ

13-3-2018

On the International Women’s Day, the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, handed the French Order of Merit to the head of the psychology department at USJ, Mirna Ganajeh. During the ceremony, Foucher praised Ganajeh’s dedication to her work, especially her management of the University Center for Family and Community Health (CUSFC). He also drew attention to her active engagement in humanitarian work through chairing the Association for the Protection of War Children (APEG) recipient of the Human Right Prize of the French Republic in 2008. In her turn, Ganajeh said the credit for her honoring goes to the many men and women she came across in her life, and underlined the importance of education in promoting social equity, without forgetting to stress the vitality of women’s involvement in the community. (L’Orient Le Jour, March 13, 2018)

Share on

UNICEF launches a new youth leadership program

13-3-2018

UNICEF launched last Tuesday the Generation of Innovation Leaders Programme (GIL) at EDEX 2018, BIEL, Beirut. The program is funded by the governments of Germany and the Netherlands and is in partnership with DOT Lebanon, the Nawaya Network, Injaz Lebanon, RDCL, LOST, the Social Movement, Safadi Foundation, UNRWA and Akkar Network for Development. The project, in cooperation with local municipalities, provides the youth with education opportunities and development of their employment skills in the fields of innovation, sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics over all Lebanese territory up to the most marginalized and remote areas. It serves as a tool to address the lack of access to knowledge for economic reasons by young people in these areas and to create job prospects in digital economy, which still is in need of talents that are not restricted to university degrees, according to UNICEF. ( Al Mustaqbal, March 13, 2018)

Share on

Women marginalized in agriculture, but leading in banking

12-3-2018

The Banque Libano-Francaise (BLF) said in a statement last week that 49% of its managerial positions are held by women as it believes in their essential and active role in society and the great successes they can achieve at all levels. Among these are, the general director, Raya Raphael Nahas, assistant general manager and director of corporate banking, Hoda Assi, and assistant general manager and director of risk management, Josephine Chahine, besides many others in the top and middle management positions. To note, women workers represent more than half the BLF staff. In a similar note, the Lebanese Rasha Mohamad Majzoub, won the second place in the Sharjah Prize for PhD in Administrative Sciences in the Arab World, for her thesis: ‘Impression Management Using Discretionary Narrative Disclosure Strategies’. On the other hand, FAO released last Tuesday the agri-gender statistics highlighting the inequalities between men and women in the agricultural sector, which showed that 43% of the agricultural labor force in Lebanon are women, but are paid less by half than men. Also, 9% of farms in the country, including livestock, are managed by women, according to FAO. (Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, March 7, 9, 2018)

Share on

Pages


Subscribe to RSS - News updates