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Women’s football in Lebanon on the rise

26-2-2018

In a special feature, Al Akhbar newspaper highlighted the women’s football experience in Lebanon which started back in 2008 with the participation of six leagues, Al Sadaka, Al Ansar, Al Adab and Riyada Kfarshima, Al Arabi Tripoli, Al Shabab Al Arabi and Homintmen. While the past few years have witnessed a remarkable development at the administrative and technical levels, the women’s teams gained wider recognition in the last two seasons as a result of enhanced achievements and the entry of some popular clubs, namely, Al Ikhaa Aley and Al Salam Zgharta, Al Akhbar wrote, noting that two tournaments (as per age groups) are played every season. The Women’s Football Committee, the newspaper went on to say, is considered one of the Football Union’s most proficient committees in terms of the constant efforts it employs to bring the best of the football competitions and matches. Unlike men, women players change every three years to allow teams to recruit fresh talents, thus yielding significant results, including winning the 2015 Arab Under 17 Women’s Cup hosted in Doha. In figures, there are currently about 400 women players in the Union, with the participation of 9 clubs in the current round, the newspaper concluded, noting that the boosted popularity of the game has called upon a number of former players to partake in football arbitration. (Al Akhbar, February 21, 2018)

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Egyptian women still prisoners of archaic restrictions

23-2-2018

In its issue of yesterday, Al Hayat newspaper wrote about the life of Egyptian women in general who are unable to be independent life or take personal decisions, as simple as choosing their own attire, working or moving freely in the streets. Society acts as a permanent custodian which judges women She finds herself at the end of the day gripped by a resident partner, society, which judges women according to its own priorities, Al Hayat wrote. According to society’s rules, women could either accomplished housewives, beauty queens or professional career women unfit to be good wives. This society, the newspaper went on to say, has in the past two decades witnessed painstaking efforts to empower women economically and was largely inspired by the campaigns to promote the education of women and girls. Nevertheless, Egyptian women still weigh heavily under societal obstructions which are a blend of outdated traditions and hardline customs, and this, the newspaper said, needs to give precedence to socio-cultural empowerment and to allow the homecoming of enlightenment that reigned in the fifties of the past century. To conclude, AL Hayat quoted Rahaf Saadi (28 years) who said: “I feel that I am being watched all the time, what I wear, when I return home, how I speak… “ (For the full article, kindly visit the link below: https://goo.gl/kHYBA3). (Al Hayat, February 22, 2018)

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Murderer of Eliane sentenced to 12-year imprisonment

23-2-2018

The Military Court of Cessation headed by Judge Toni Latouf, pronounced its ruling yesterday in the case of the murder of Eliane Saftali by a former sergeant sentencing him to 12-year imprisonment. Saftali was killed on the night of January 12, 2015 following a shooting at a nightclub in Kaslik, East Beirut by Hassan Hamiyeh, who managed to escape prison. The First Military Investigative Judge, Riad Abu Ghida had earlier issued an accusatory verdict sustaining Hamiyeh’s act as a felony of wrongful death according to Article 550 of the Penal Code. The article states that “anyone who takes the life of another person by negligence or lack of precaution or observance of laws and regulations in effect is punished with 6 months up to 3 years imprisonment.” (Al Mustaqbal, February 23, 2018)

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Iraqi women run their businesses from their homes

22-2-2018

In a special feature, Al Hayat newspaper spotlighted the story of Nisrine Mohamad, (41 years) a widower and mother of five who was forced to provide for her family after her husband was killed in a bombing in Iraq. Nisrine started to make pastries during the Eid and sell to her neighbors at affordable prices. Eventually, she considered expanding her work and purchased, for this purpose, another furnace to meet the growing orders on her home-made tarts. According to Al Hayat, Nisrine is not the only Iraqi woman who thought seriously of establishing a small-scale enterprise from her home. Dozens of similar women-run projects have mushroomed in and around the capital Baghdad and in other Iraqi cities, the newspaper wrote. Many of these are individually or family-run and others receive aid from civil society organizations funded by international donors for that purpose. Al Hayat mentioned that these projects attract many customers, especially in popular neighborhoods, as they market their products at a fair price compared to similar products sold at double the price at department stores. Al Hayat drew attention to other women-managed enterprises also common in Iraq, that involve sewing, audit for Arab pharmaceutical firms abroad and remote coordination projects. The article is available on the following link: https://goo.gl/R77LLc. (Al Hayat, February 22, 2018)

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Tunisia defers debate on gender equality in inheritance

22-2-2018

In the aftermath of the Tunisian President, Beji Caid Essebsi’s call for amendment of inheritance law to ensure gender equality and the rift it forged with Islamists, (https://goo.gl/fh57Ck), the State deferred the debate on this legislation until after the municipal elections set for this coming May. On the subject, the President of the Committee for Individual Freedoms at the Tunisian Parliament, prominent feminist activist, MP Boushra Balhaj Hamida, disclosed that the Committee presented Essebsi with the proposed reforms in keeping with the Constitution and international human rights standards. However, the final report, Ben Hamida announced after meeting with the President, will be postponed until next June following the municipal elections, noting that the committee, will in the meantime, broaden its consultations to gain more support and to avoid political polarization over said proposal. (Al Hayat, February 21, 2018)


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Gender equality in inheritance rifts Islamists
Tunisian president’s call for gender equality questioned
Call for gender equality in inheritance in Tunisia steers controversy
 

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New warning to MWDW recruitment agencies

22-2-2018

The ministry of labor repeatedly warned agencies recruiting domestic workers (MWDWs) of receiving direct or indirect payments from MWDWs after it learned that some employers and recruitment offices are still forcing MWDWs to pay them the salaries of the first months of work. A statement to this effect, said that in the event of any violation of the terms of this circular, the ministry will take maximum punitive measures against the violators. This, the statement noted, could reach the cancellation of their licenses and blacklisting the party in contravention of the ministry’s orders. To recall, the ministry of labor has issued a similar directive back in December, 2017. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, February 21, 2018)
 

Previous related news: 
Labor ministry warns offices against taking money from MWDWs
Directory of services of MWDWs in Lebanon
Human traffickers, MWDW violence in Lebanon
 

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Martine Najm Koteili general secretary of FPM

21-2-2018

The President of the Free Patriotic Movement, foreign minister, Jibran Bassil, issued a circular yesterday appointing Martine Najm Koteili as secretary general of the Movement. Based on the conviction in the capacities of women and their efficiency in playing successful roles in political parties and public affairs, Koteili has just begun to exercise her duties, the circular said. To recall, Koteili is a public health and development specialist, holds a master’s degree in public health from AUB and boasts extensive experience in gender and population, youth health, reproductive and sexual health and geriatrics. She is also an instructor at the Department of Health Promotion and Community Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences at AUB since February 2012. In 2017, Koteili was appointed a member in the general assembly of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) and a member in the NCLW executive bureau. (Al Mustaqbal, February 21, 2018)

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Growing potato and leafy green RMF project in Akkar

20-2-2018

The Rene Moawad Foundation (RMF), launched on Sunday its ‘Growing the Potato and Leafy Green Value Chain for Improved Livelihoods’ project in Akkar funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands. On the occasion, RMF CEO Michel Moawad said the aim of the project is to induce a qualitative leap in agriculture in Akkar in terms of enhancing growing techniques, which in turn help in producing new varieties of potato that are cost-effective and adaptable to the needs of local and international markets. Moawad also spoke about opening new outlets to export local potatoes, particularly since conventional markets are currently experiencing considerable crises as a result of political instability in the country and the impasse of land transport to Arab states. Moawad further disclosed that over 100 farmers, 650 agricultural workers and 4 coops, in addition to 15 women and 50 children above 16 years, are expected to benefit from the project. He stressed that “empowering working women through boosting their participation in the agricultural sector and addressing the problem of children at work is one of the basic goals of the project." (Al Mustaqbal, February 19, 2018)

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Anti-harassment units in Egyptian universities

20-2-2018

In its issue of yesterday, Al Hayat newspaper drew attention to the phenomenon of sexual harassment in Egyptian universities. The excuses and justifications for harassing female students have gone as far as arguing that women students themselves deserve to be considered entirely responsible for the act rather than the lack of ethical behavior and moral degeneration in some male students or their sexual obsession that is masked with morality or religiosity. In its analysis, Al Hayat mentioned that the environment which rejects harassment constitutes the foundation to stand up against this menace in a conservative and religious-observant society. Pointing to the deployment of anti-harassment units in a number of universities, Al Hayat said they work to raise awareness among the university community on the issue, and elucidate the truth and clear out any misperception about it that often helps to socially assimilate and accept the act or stigmatize the girl or woman who is harassed. The newspaper also referred to the HarassMap volunteer-based initiative https://harassmap.org/ar started in 2010 by 4 women in response to the sexual harassment epidemic in the streets of Egypt, noting the great job it is doing in bringing problem to light, wiping out the attached stigma and encouraging victims to speak out. For the full feature, kindly visit the following link: https://goo.gl/m5whXd . (Al Hayat, February 19, 2018)

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Druze community leader calls for respecting women committed to the faith

20-2-2018

The Sheikh Akl of the Druze community, Naim Hassan, demanded in a press conference yesterday, the interior minister to follow the mechanism adopted earlier and which observes religious diktat regarding the issuance of identity cards for the Mouahidat (women who are religious devotees). Hassan maintained that the traditions deep-rooted in the religion of Al Mouahidoun require “faith-initiated women to wear a modest attire, including a niqab to cover the head, and this is something that cannot be waived,” as he put it. He warned that, any restrictions to this effect are dubbed an encroachment on women’s rights and freedom and a deprivation of their identity. Noting the unsatisfactory results and failure of the ministry for more than a year to issue said IDs, Hassan appealed to authorities concerned to respect spiritual traditions of the Druze Community and take the necessary measures in observance of the particularities credited by the sheikhdom of akl in order to facilitate the release of their identity cards. (Al Mustaqbal, February 20, 2018)

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