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Machnuq appeals to women to actively participate in the elections

6-2-2018

Despite government’s failure to adopt the women’s quota in the new elections bill, and with the approach of the date set for the upcoming Parliamentary elections, politicians are stepping up their token calls to promote women’s participation in politics. In this respect, the Minister of Interior, Nuhad Machnuq, appealed to women yesterday to engage actively in the elections, both as candidates and voters, in order to prove their strength and reinforce their national role, wishing them a greater stake in the next parliament. Machnuq also focused on people with special needs, mentioning that his ministry will take technical and logistical measures to facilitate their voting and enable them to exercise their full rights. To this effect, the ministry has introduced 10 polling stations accessible for people with disabilities. (Al Mustaqbal, February 6, 2018)

 

Previous related news:
Paula Yacubian joins 7 party and runs for Parliamentary elections
First women nominee in Zahleh
Future may nominate one woman from Beirut for May parliamentary elections
Frantic civil efforts to boost women’s parliamentary representation
Claudine Aoun calls again for boosting women’s political participation
 

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A Moroccan novelist links moral liberalization to women’s emancipation

6-2-2018

The author Lina Kannush stated, in an article published in Al-Akhbar today’s newspaper, that the essentialist tendency of the Moroccan novelist Leila Suleimany was taking over again. Ms. Kannush clarified that, as a response to a defeatist text published by “Le Monde” newspaper and signed by a collective of 100 women under the title of “The freedom to harass” (c.f: http://bit.ly/2BVDhfw), Ms. Suleimany wrote an article characterized with narcissism under the title of “You were born a pig”. The novelist drew the features of a new cultural essentialist class, while carrying the banner of a feminism that is unique to a petty bourgeoisie. Ms. Kannush added, “Although both texts defend freedom’s negative outlook that ignores the concrete reality, to become as such the unique path towards moral “liberalization” as a basis for emancipation, Suleimany’s article reproduces a cultural essentialist discourse”. Ms. Kannush also reiterated some questions that were asked by Leila in her article, including “Will the women walking in the streets of Cairo, New Delhi, Lima, Mosul, Kinshasa and Casablanca worry due to the absence of seduction and chivalry? Do they themselves have the right, to seduce, choose, and harass?”, while clarifying that it was these miserable women that were confined within their societies and suffocated from moral restrictions, that were waiting for these pioneers ranting about women’s emancipation to eradicate them from their misery and put them on the road to pleasure that no inhibition can reach. Kannush continued “Hence, Leila Suleimany, this false rebel equipped with the French media’s praise, is declaring her obedience to the uppish progressive discourse that creates a strict causal rapport between moral liberalization and emancipation, then subsequently progress”, and said Ms. Suleimany was promoting a narcissistic individualism for pleasure (for more information about the article, please see: http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/290135). (Al-Akhbar, February 1st, 2018).

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Women refugees in Beqaa camps under the mercy of the “Shawish”

5-2-2018

In a special feature today, Al Hayat newspaper noted that for every Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon there is a shawish (chief) who supervises, organizes and is the link between the camp’s residents and the outside world. In one of the camps, so-termed “widows’ camp”, in the Beqaa area, Al Hayat wrote, lives a group of 40-50 widowed women displaced along with their children, but who cannot leave the camp for any reason without the permission of the shawish. The latter has become more like a ‘mahram’ (allowable male escort) to dozens of widows living within the camp, where none can act without returning to him. Widows residing in the camp pay the shawish in return for delivering daily services, including purchase of household items or a lift in his own car when need arises, the newspaper said. But the rules enforced by the power of money reach sometimes the extent of separating the boys when they reach the age of 9 from their mothers to live in independent caravans located outside the camp. They are allowed to stay with their moms during the day but are separated from them at night, the newspaper wrote. Human rights and relief workers fear that this situation which is in clear violation of the rights of refugees, could very well cultivate and foster sexual abuse of both women and children, become a hotbed for extremists and possibly later a base for recruiting outlaws to do illicit businesses. Um Mariam, a resident of a Beqaa camp, best described the situation when she said: “We live at the mercy of the shawish, the bully who leaves us cowering in fear of his admonishment.” The article can be found on this link: https://goo.gl/79Aroy. (Al Hayat, February 5, 2018)

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Young people in Jordan are seeking to marry employed young women

5-2-2018

In its issue of today, Al Hayat newspapernoted that the decline in household income and the corresponding increase in costs of living in Jordan have prompted more women and girls to access the labor market and become a prime source of income for their family. This, Al Hayat wrote, has contributed to a higher demand on young employed women for marriage contrary to what was customary in the past, when an engaged girl had to quit her job after she gets wed in order to raise her family. On the subject, the newspaper spoke to human rights expert, Inaam Asha, who drew attention to the disparity in the attitude toward marriage to women with employment and a still lingering outlook which requires young women to stop working after engagement. Today, however, Asha explained, parents are themselves in the lookout for jobs for their own daughters contravening a past tradition which considers the mixed-sex workplace as a social taboo for girls. Citing official statistics, Asha indicated that the rate of participation of women in the labor market reached nearly 14%, while the rate of employment among women stood at 35%, noting that with a simple addition, the rate of potentially-productive women would constitute half of the Jordanian labor market. Nadia Ali (35 years) for her part, told Al Hayat that young men want to marry a working girl to split household expenses with the partner, adding that, some guys demand that their future partner be employed. For the full article, kindly visit the following link: https://goo.gl/CyRjvi. ((Al Hayat, February 5, 2018)

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Paula Yacubian joins 7 party and runs for Parliamentary elections

5-2-2018

Lebanese journalist Paula Yacubian disclosed this past weekend that she will be running for the Parliamentary elections set for May 2nd on the electoral list of the civil society 7 Party against the political list backed by Premier Saad Hariri. Yacubian, who will run for a seat in the first constituency of Beirut, said the main reason for her candidacy is the standstill in the country, particularly in terms of poor services, noting a serious crisis at the level of the nation and the political regime. Yacubian pointed out that the new electoral law will enable new civil society groups to become represented in the parliament, so as to bring about change in the political spectrum. In the same vain, the Minister of Information, Mel7hem Riachi, said on Saturday that presently, the main issue is to see women in the political arena to help develop society and create a new Levant, as he said. “Corruption is eating away at society, and what is more hazardous than corruption is nurturing corruption, and here women should be present and strongly,” Riachi said. The minister was speaking during the closing ceremony of Women in Front’s project ‘Yound LeaderShe’ funded by the Embassy of Netherlands. (L’Orient Le Jour, Al Diyar, February 5, 2018)

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Women learning English in Kamed el Loz

5-2-2018

In partnership with USPEaK community center and Kamed el Loz municipality, the Association for Development inaugurated last Thursday the Teaching Women English Program in the said town. The program, which is funded by the US Embassy in Beirut and implemented by USPEaK in all Lebanese regions, comes within the framework of empowering women socially and economically. On the occasion, Sawa president, Nawal Mdallali, said the activity is part of a plan by the Association to develop the capacities of women, with special focus on the West Beqaa area, to help them provide for themselves and their households. The program, she explained, includes training workshops on issues especially targeting the Beqaa women. For her part, USPEaK director and founder, Rawan Yaghi, said the program aims at strengthening women within their community through education and job creation, and covers 150 hours of teaching English in addition to other cultural activities. Similarly, the mayor of Kamed el Loz, Ahmad Saleh Sati, praised the program, while sustaining his municipality’s support for women’s rights and its coordination with various parties to help them acquire the necessary skills to help the community. (AL Mustaqbal, February 3, 2018)

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World Hijab Day, a call to combat intolerance and discrimination

2-2-2018

Women from different faiths and backgrounds around the globe celebrated yesterday the World Hijab Day which falls on February 1 of each year. The celebration is a collective call for all women to wear the hijab for a day in solidarity with Muslim women who are discriminated against for simply wearing a headscarf. A statement on the website promoting the event said the aim is to create a more peaceful world where citizens of the world, men and women, respect each other in order to combat intolerance, prejudice and discrimination against Muslim women. To recall, the initiative was founded back in 2013 by a Muslim American social activist, Nazma Khan, and is commemorated in more than 140 countries. On the Lebanese front, the prime minister reminded in a new circular issued yesterday all public sector departments and institutions as well as municipalities to respond to and accept all applications submitted by qualified citizens who meet the required conditions as stated by the law, including ‘muhajabat’ otherwise, they will be held accountable. The veil should not be an obstacle to their recruitment in state jobs as stipulated in the Constitution, particularly Articles 7 and 12, the circular said. For the reference, premier Saad Hariri on January 18 has issued a similar ordinance after the minister of state for administrative development affairs, Inaya Ezzedine, raised the subject about the ‘muhajabat who applied for jobs in the public sector but were asked to take off the hijab’. (Al Mustaqbal, February 2, 2018)

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Developing Leadership at Besancon

31-1-2018

The Educational Office at Ecole des Soeurs de la Charite-Besancon and Waznat Career Guidance and Consultancy launched yesterday the ‘Developing Leaders’ program targeting heads and coordinators of sections in schools in Beirut, Baabda, Kfur, Baabdat, Baskinta and Damascus. The program includes training on a set of life skills, administration and other tasks required in school education. The main headings are: communication skills in educational institutions, conflict resolution or management techniques inside schools and the theme ‘are there leaders in the educational world?’. On the occasion, the chief of the Educational Office at Besancon, Mirna Farah, told An Nahar newspaper, ‘Our school believes in the continuous process of upbringing’, adding, “we, as headmasters and educational coordinators are responsible towards the souls of thousands of students in our schools, and we want to extend to them, besides love and knowledge, all the skills required for their growth and preparation for college and career life.”. (An Nahar, January 31, 2018)

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German President’s wife calls for forcing men to support women!

31-1-2018

The Lebanese First Lady, Nadia Chami Aoun, brought together the wife of the German President Judge Elke Budenbender and a number of Lebanese women judges for a conversation at the Baabda Palace to exchange views and experience. Women present discussed their roles in defending women’s rights in Lebanon up to achieving the principle of gender equality and the various challenges they face in this regard. They also deliberated the role of the judiciary in sustaining the right of women to hold senior posts in the sector and in protecting women, underage girls and juveniles from violence and abuse. During the gathering, Budenbender who has an extensive experience in administrative courts, noted large similarity in figures between Lebanon and Germany in relation to the rate of women’s participation in the judiciary, including senior positions and court presidency (50%). She said women are naturally inclined to relinquish their career life for the sake of the family, despite that in Germany they enjoy long maternity leaves and fathers have their paternal leaves as well. Budenbender also pressed the need that men support their wives in this direction, and called for enforcing a women’s representation quota in Lebanon, referring to her country’s successful experience in this area after having forged a big change in the public sector. "We have to force men to support women, for the latter have the same aptitudes as men," she concluded. (Al Mustaqbal, January 31, 2018)

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Women, youth engagement in Arab development

31-1-2018

In yet another redundant repetition to the recommendations aiming to integrate women into the economy, the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, called for setting priorities to achieve the goals, primarily empowering women to enhance their status in society, through provision of quality education and funding prospects to facilitate the emergence of SMEs that can boost the cycle of economic recovery led by modern technologies. Lagarde speech came yesterday during a conference organized by the International Monitory Fund (IMF), in partnership with the Arab Monetary Fund and the Moroccan Ministry of Finance, in Marrakesh, entitled: ‘Opportunity for All: Promoting Growth, Jobs, and Inclusiveness in the Arab World’. Lagarde, said that the rate of global economy could rise to 3.9% next year, describing it as a record growth since the global economic crisis. Lagarde pointed out that the development of technology and telecommunication services provide additional fields for integrating young people in the development process depending on the capacity of these countries to create adequate jobs to involve their youth, rather than relying on the conventional roles of the governments and the public sector. To be noted that participants agreed that the rapid developments in the region and the global economic recovery provide profuse opportunities to capitalize on in terms of achieving economic and social development that scales up the involvement of women and the youth. This in turn will raise the rate of development, promote social stability, attract investments, as well as, reduce disparities among individuals and regions through governance systems, improved business climate and fiscal justice. (Al Hayat, Janaury 31, 2018)

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