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Lebanese Forces & Al Azm also support women’s economic empowerment

28-11-2017

The Lebanese Forces (LF) Apparatus for Activating the Role of Women- Production Bureau will kick off its first artisan fair (December1-2, Mar Elias-Antelias Church) with the aim to empower women economically. The exhibition, held under the patronage of LF Party leader Samir Geagea, comes as part of the Party’s key mission to strengthen women’s political, economic and social role in the community, according to the invitation wording. The show opens on Friday (from 5 pm- 10 pm) and on Saturday (from 10 am- 10 pm), the invitation said. In a related incident, the Women’s Sector at Al Azm Movement organized an awareness seminar yesterday entitled, ‘Bread, Oil and Olives’ at the Bader Hassoun Ecovillage in Dahr al Ain, Koura in the North. In her talk, Sonia Abiad, head of the Agricultural Center in Tripoli and Minyeh, underlined the significance of olive oil as a unique fine food if extracted in the manner of virgin olive oil which preserves its rich antioxidants. Abiad focused on the proper scientific method of storing olives in preparation for extraction by a strictly hygienic press, cautioning against leaving the product more than 48 hours without squeezing. (Al Diyar, November 28, 2017)

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Silvana Lakkis, civil activist and LPHU chief

27-11-2017

In its issue of November 25, Al Ittihad newspaper focused on the life of activist Silvana Lakkis, President of the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU). Lakkis who has been living with paralysis since her childhood years, refused to be wheelchair-bound and instead took the case of the handicapped to the regional and international platforms, Al Ittihad wrote, describing her as the “Octopus Woman” (the woman with many arms). Lakkis has taken the determination and vigor after her mother who went all out to ensure that her daughter enjoys all her rights, like any other child. This has strengthened the qualities of leadership in the girl who grew to be known as the ‘mukhtar’ (chief) of the neighborhood’s kids. Reminiscing the disappointments in her life, Lakkis brought to mind the first setback when she was rejected by a private school close to where she lived on the pretext that “the school lacks the proper facilities and for fears of student bullying.” Later, after her transfer to a specialized institution, she became aware that people with disabilities were segregated and excluded, Lakkis told Al Ittihad reporter. Nevertheless, this incident has built up inside her a deep sense of struggle for human rights. The second mishap was when she was refused employment as a language teacher, knowing that she holds a translation degree which she earned during her medical trip to Czechoslovakia. In 1986, Lakkis joined the LPHU and moved to Saida which saw an outpouring of her capacities and potentials when she organized the LPHU’s early round of accomplishments. But she never gave in on her universal battle. She, and LPHU colleagues, staged protests against the war, resisting the partition of the country, and supported civil causes and the rights of disabled persons. Lakkis and her colleagues were among the leading activists who helped pass the 2000/220 Law on Persons with Disabilities in Lebanon. (Al Ittihad, November 25, 2017)

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International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

27-11-2017

Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which falls on November 25 each year, the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, declared violence against women is a form of barbarism resulting from the absence of human conscience in both men and women. Aoun’s words came during his lifting the curtain off statue in tribute to women victims of violence on the Presidential Palace road in Baabda. The President said the first thought he contemplated after his election was to work to eliminate legal gender disparities, which he maintained are still far from acting as a deterrent in reducing the incidence of violence against women. On the same occasion, the Presidential Palace’s main façade was lit in orange, the color of the campaign. Meanwhile, the United Nations launched the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence with the logo: ‘Leave no one behind: End violence against women and girls’ which will last till the Human Rights Day on December 10. In the same vein, Kafa, Enough Violence and Exploitation, kicked off its campaign, #this is also sexual violence#, as part of its continuous struggle to eradicate all the effects of the Penal Code Article 522. To recall, the Lebanese Parliament on August 16 partially scrapped Article 522 and retained relevant articles related to sex with a minor. Also, the minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, said there should be in-depth studies that evaluate the difference women can forge if they seize seats in the Legislative. Ogassapian who was participating in the ‘Win With Women’ conference organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in cooperation with Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), said the Lebanese woman is able to make that difference. )Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, November 25, 26, 27, 2017)

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Basket weaving revival in Jbeil

27-11-2017

In collaboration with UN Women, the Japanese Embassy and the ministry of social affairs, the Safadi Foundation on Friday announced the launch of the revival of the basket weaving industry in Byblos project. The latter focuses on training local women on how to employ palm fronds in making baskets. According to the Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon, Matahiro Yamaguchi, the project aims to empower some 600 women through the provision of useful entrepreneurial skills, and contributes to achieving the desired equality between men and women. L’Orient Le Jour, which reported the news, said three women from Jbeil, Byblos are the masterminds of the initiative. They are: Alice Edde, an activist in the protection of traditional artisan skills; Najwa Bassil, local development expert and architect, Mouna Yazbek. Bassil pointed out that the idea of the undertaking is to revive a trade or craft that essentially associated with the country’s heritage. And while stressing the need to engage contemporary designers to update traditional basket making methods in such that they appeal to modern tastes, she hoped the initiative will leave positive impact on tourism and commerce activity. Yazbek for her part disclosed that in order to facilitate the implementation of the project, she sought out elderly women who boast the required expertness. (L'Orient Le Jour, November 25, 2017)

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Khan Al Jookh in Beirut Souks promotes designers & craftspeople

24-11-2017

At 6:00 pm this evening, Solidere will launch the Khan Al Joukh event in the Gold Souk, Beirut Souks, which is dedicated to talented young designers and craftspeople. A collective of five residents will be there, and they are: Starched, founded by Rabih Kairuz, helps promote Lebanese emerging designers bringing together 12 Starch alumni; Studio 2, home to 2 Lebanese designers, Stephanie Nehme and Sahar Hafda, working with textiles and paper; Salim Azzam Boutique, for embroidery; BlockSfinj by Chriystel Karam, merging industry and architectural design, and, finally, Creative Space, Sarah Hermez, a free equal opportunity school for fashion design providing creative education to talented ambitious youth who lack the resources needed to pursue a degree at expensive institutions. On the initiative, Solidere’s general manager, Mounir Douaidi, said it seeks to revive and preserve Khan Al Joukh which was part of the old souks in the downtown district before the civil war. ( Akhbar, L’Orient Le Jour, November 24, 2017)

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Opening of Safadi Accelerated Vocational Training Center

24-11-2017

The Tripoli-based Safadi Foundation announced on Tuesday the beginning of classes at the Safadi Accelerated Vocational Training Center set up as part of the Revival of the Old City’s Society and Economy (ROSE program). The initiative implemented with the support of the Regional Development and Protection Programme for Refugees and Host Communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (RDPP), aims to enhance the vocational skills of young people and facilitate their economic integration through employment generation in Tripoli and the North. A statement by the Safadi Foundation clarified that the center will provide beneficiaries (aged between 16-24 years) with free-of-charge training in some 13 disciplines on a duration of two months. Sessions already started in sanitary ware, painting and isolation, while other specializations will be gradually introduced during this month. The director of vocational training, Samer Fatfat, disclosed that at the end of the training courses, graduates from the Center will receive an experience certificate from the Safadi Foundation certified by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Tripoli and the North Bar Association. To note, the latter has few days ago signed a protocol of cooperation with the Foundation and several local and international organizations. Fatfat pointed out that beneficiaries will also get a complete professional toolkit and will assist them in finding jobs in the area in the framework of projects executed by the Safadi Foundation. (Al Diyar, November 22, 2017)

Previous related news:
A new vocational training center in Tripoli to empower youth, create jobs
 

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Lebanon celebrates 74th years of complete marginalization of its female component

23-11-2017

After 74 years of the country’s independence, which it celebrated yesterday, no woman to date has lit up the Lebanese public domain, irrespective of the ratification in 1953 of women’s right to vote. Men still far outnumber their female counterparts who are almost completely marginalized in representation. This marginalization was noticeable in the First Lady, Nadia Chammy Aoun’s speech on the Independence Day in which she stressed the need to revive Lebanon’s past standing as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”, but totally overlooked the fact that Lebanon’s women are still deprived of their basic rights at all walks of life. On the occasion of Independence, Al Akhbar newspaper published an article entitled, “Behind all the heroes of independence, there is a hidden identity of a subordinate woman.” In its feature, Al Akhbar wrote that notwithstanding the 1953 right of women to vote, this right remains incomplete. Female’s political participation is still shy or sidelined, whether in terms of representation or engagement in political parties, the newspaper wrote, sarcastically stating that since the “resurrection of Lebanon’s so-termed ‘independence, this participation saw only 10 female MPs and 8 ministers. Al Akhbar considered that the mobilization of women through NGOs and their increased involvement in civil society is but a Western style attempt to conceal their political banishment after failing to secure the 30% women quota. Long years after the independence of Lebanon, the country has fallen to the 181th place among 193 states according to the 2016 Women in Parliament indicator for 2016. The Lebanese house of legislatives today has only 4 women MPs (representing only 3% of seats), Al Akhbar said. Women, specifically politicians, although few, have arrived because they are either sisters or daughters or relatives of men, Al Akhbar concluded, asking “When does the Lebanese woman get her independence form political male chauvinism or masculinity?” The article appears on the following link: https://www.al-akhbar.com/node/286818. (Al Akhbar, L’Orient Le Jour, November 22, 2017)

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Early and delayed marriages continue to undermine Arab women’s rights

23-11-2017

AL Hayat last Monday drew attention to the present duality between early marriage and delayed marriage in many Arab countries, describing it as a hitch that needs radical and prompt solution and pointing to the economic factor largely involved in this matter. Al Hayat spoke to sociology professor at Mutah University in Jordan, Hussein Mahadeen, who attributed early marriage mainly to the personal status low that gives sharia judges discretionary power to allow child marriages (under 18 years). The delay in marriages, on the other hand, is due to the transformation of society from traditional rural values to modernization and technology culture associated with a hike in wedding expenses, Mahadeen explained. And while the Tunisian social psychology expert, Rania Khudr, described as ‘catastrophic’ the delay in marriage for both sexes, blaming it largely on the deteriorating economic conditions, the human rights activist, Fatmeh Ghareebi, confirmed that the marriage of minors has always been a norm practiced by families in the marginalized rural areas of Tunisia and resulting mainly from the phenomenon of early school dropout. For his part, the Yemeni researcher, Saeed Abdel Ghafour, clarified that the worsening economic and security situation could exacerbate child marriage and increase the number of widows and ‘spinsters’, as he put it, and maybe, divorce incidents as well. Al Hayat recalled Egyptian President, Abdel Fatah al Sisi’s shock over the number of 12-year old widows and divorcees. In parallel, the newspaper reported a significant decline in early marriages in Palestine, mentioning a raise in the average age of the first marriage among males compared to the 1997 rate, posting an average of 24.6 years in 2011 against 23 years in 1997 for males and an average of 20.1 years in 2012 against 18 years in 1997 for females. (More on the feature on the following link: https://goo.gl/DsH644, https://goo.gl/2v6ufd, https://goo.gl/6NZf2e, https://goo.gl/uqVuyc , https://goo.gl/6sDbXG ) . (Al Hayat, November 20, 2017)

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Sharia law now optional in Greece for Muslim minorities

23-11-2017

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, announced last week that his country will make the application of certain Sharia law provisions optional in family matters for Muslim minorities in the north eastern district of Thrace. A government source said the ministry of education and religious affairs is currently studying and negotiating a draft legislation to this effect to be passed soon. This step comes following the European Court of Human Rights’ criticism and denouncement of the rule of Sharia in some effective provisions in Thrace involving gender inequality and discrimination against women in matters related to inheritance, divorce and child custody, the source added. The proposed reform according to concerned parties, will allow 110,000-strong Muslim minority of Turkish origins as well as Pomaks and Roma gypsies to opt for a civil or sharia court to resolve and regulate marriage, divorce or inheritance disputes. Presently, the Muslim minority is forced to regulate its affairs under Islamic Sharia, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, 1923, which marked the borders between Greece and Turkey. (Al Hayat, November 22, 2017)

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The role of religious confessions in strengthening early marriage in Lebanon

21-11-2017

Al Hayat newspaper highlighted yesterday the question of early marriage in Lebanon which is detested and contested by many human rights and women organizations. This phenomenon, Al Hayat wrote, is largely viewed in terms of its violation of children’s rights and in its negative effects on their emotional and physical health, after it has been perceived in the past as a normal incidence from the social and legal perspectives. Unlike a man, a young woman approaching her thirty years used to be so-called a ‘spinster or old maid’, but today, it is commonplace to find many women aged 30 and above who are still single, especially in urban areas. Liberation and independence, as well as, increasing involvement of women, in terms of their number and status, in the labor market have become the trend. This, Al Hayat went on to say, has contributed extensively to raising the average age of marriage among women, prompting several social and spiritual bodies to caution against what they call an emerging and alarming situation and its repercussions on the family and community. The newspaper reminisced Hizbullah leader’s speech on March 18 in which he publicly endorsed the culture of early marriage and accused whoever fights it to be an accomplice of the devil. For more on the subject, Al Hayat spoke to activist Jennifer Saliba (28 years) struggling to raise the minimum age of marriage in the country to 18 years for both sexes. Saliba explained that the problem is inherent in the sectarian personal status law, where each religious sect is entitled to follow its own legal system or spiritual and sharia courts. She criticized the slackness and indifference by the government allegedly entrusted to protecting its citizens while in reality it is silently watching the explicit encroachment by these systems upon the rights of the child stipulated by relevant international conventions to which Lebanon is a signatory. (Al Hayat, November 20, 2017)

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