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Trial of Eliane Saftali adjourned

21-6-2017

The head of the Military Court of Cassation, Judge Hani Latouf, deferred to June 29 the hearing in the case of murder of Eliane Saftali by Hassan Ahmad Hamiyeh who managed to escape prison (news: http://bit.ly/2nfVwVI ) for two reasons. The first, because the attorney of one of the defendants, Yassir Hamiyeh, did not show up, and the second, because the Beirut Bar Association did not send feedback on the Court’s request to assign a lawyer from the legal aid to defend the other convict, sergeant Talib Hamiyeh. Noting, that the Court has begun questioning the accused as of the end of last month. On the subject, Al Diyar newspaper wrote that the case of Saftali is likely to see many rounds of adjournment after it came out during the hearing by the Court of Cassation that the scene needs crossword clue answers. In every hearing, the newspaper said, new complications emerge that lead to putting off the trial. Moreover, the main hitch is linked to the prime suspect who, it was not known until now, if he was notified with the repeal by the Permanent Military Court of the verdict and its approval by the Court of Cassation which, as a result, decided to retry the convicts. )Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 21, 2017(

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Updates on Eliane Saftali case and domestic violence in Lebanon

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In France, parties penalised for not including women on their electoral lists

20-6-2017

The minister of state for administrative development affairs, Inaya Izzedine, said Lebanese women are not marginalized or oppressed by the law or the Constitution, but rather by practice. The right to run for elections is theirs since 1953, but they are deterred by a dominating male chauvinist society, Izzedine lamented in a radio talk show interview. Everyone has supported reform and change to this end, “but the issue was never tackled properly or seriously,” she said, urging Lebanese women to run for parliamentary elections, despite non-inclusion of the women’s quota by the recently endorsed electoral system. Izzedine explained the purpose of the representation quota which is “equality in the take-off point”, because, as she said, “the patriarchal mindset needs time to be transformed.” The woman who assumes responsibility, ought to become resolute as a political party member, Izzedine concluded. It should be noted, that the results of this June’s French Parliamentary elections brought a record victory for women, 223 females out of 577 elected MPs, equivalent to 38.65% of the total parliamentary seats. Some have largely attribute this achievement to a previous decisions by President Emmanuel Macron in August 2014, when as minister of economy, he endorsed a law that increased twofold financial penalties on any political party that fails to comply with gender equality in their elections lists. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, June 20, 2017)

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“Direxiona”, new ICT application for teaching driving to women

20-6-2017

In an exceptional women-only initiative in Cairo, Nairuz Talaat launched the application ‘Direxiona’ that encourages women to take driving lessons with women instructors in their neck of the woods. The idea of Direxiona (steering wheel in Arabic) came after she discovered that her lack of driving experience impeded her everyday life, Nairuz explained. She decided to help her peers willing to learn the rules and boost up their confidence on the dangerous and chaotic roads of the Egyptian capital, noting that in a conservative society, like Egypt, women are generally dissuaded from driving. And to transform the concept into an actual business, Nairuz applied to and was accepted by the Business Builder program in July 2016, following which she rented an office in Garik Campus known as a center for entrepreneurship in the city and a hub for many startups and emerging youth-led enterprises. Currently, the driving platform embraces some 300 students and 50 female instructors, while noting that the majority of instructors in Egypt are men, which can be a cultural barrier to many Egyptian women. (Al Mustaqbal, June 18, 2017)

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New executive bureau of NCLW

20-6-2017

In its first meeting chaired by President Claudine Aoun Rukuz and the presence of vice presidents Wafaa Diqa Hamzeh and Abir Shbaro, the new general assembly of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) elected yesterday members of its new executive bureau. Besides its chief and her 2 deputies, the executive committee is formed of Rana Ghandur, Dr. Fadia Kiwan, lawyer Ghada Hamdan Hodeib, Dr. Hania Hamud, Martine Najm Kuteili, Dr. Miriam Younis Abu Abdallah, lawyer Colette Hayek Masaad and Faten Ali Younis. (Al Diyar, June 20, 2017)

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Aoun’s daughter to preside over NCLW
 

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To make up for the electoral quota, Aoun urges women to run for Parliament

19-6-2017

Lebanese President Michel Aoun expressed on Friday his disappointment that the new electoral law did not include women’s quota. He urged more women to run for Parliament especially that the Constitution does not discriminate between men and women running for candidacy. Aoun said he hoped political parties would include women nominees on their lists, while noting that the vote law based on proportionality “allows for a larger representation contrary to the majoritarian law.” Similarly, the head of the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped (LWAH), Randa Assi Berri, congratulated all political forces for enacting a proportional voting system which divides the country into 15 electoral districts, denouncing at the same time the failure to include the 30% women’s quota. Speaking on behalf of the Lebanese Women Affairs Association, Amal Movement’s Women’s Affairs division and the National Alliance in Support of Women Political Participation in Lebanon, Berri wondered why women have been absent from the deliberations that led to endorsement of said law. “Any electoral system that ignores the right of a woman to be represented in Parliament lacks national credibility by virtue of the Constitution. This credibility is not measured by sectarian representation standards, but rather by a nationwide partnership between all the human and state components that make the nation,” Berri stated. Does not the proportional system represent all segments of society, aren’t women half the society, why are they warded off? (An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, June 17, 2017)

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British Ambassador commemorates IDWD

19-6-2017

On the occasion of the International Domestic Workers’ Day, the British Ambassador to Beirut, Hugo Shorter, received at his home on Saturday a group of migrant women domestic workers (MWDWs) in cooperation with EQUIP center to participate in a cooking class with the personal chef of the Ambassador.The British Embassy said that seven MWDWs participated in a cooking lesson that was followed by a lunch with the Ambassador attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations working in the field. Expounding on his initiative, Shorter said: “as promised last year, we are proud to support Equip center that transforms the lives of employers and the workers to the better, as well as to host a group of MWDWs who traveled from far countries in order to make a living”. Shorter stressed the significance of this special event, emphasizing the commitment of employers and workers to ensuring the implementation of ethical standards that govern working relationships. For her part, EQUIP’s founder and director, Lena Qussaifi, explained that the center has been in operation for 6 months now and that the results “are amazing and exiting”, pointing to the launching of a new service by the center entitled safety and hygiene in the kitchen. Concluding, Qusaifi called employers to register domestic workers who wish to enroll in the program and benefit from other facilities provided by the center which is based on developing communication, management, and other professional skills, including first aid courses offered by the Lebanese Red Cross, language lessons and many other services such as caring for children and the elderly. (Al Mustaqbal, June 18, 2017)

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LF opposed to women’s quota, Hezbollah reserved all others shy away

16-6-2017

News sources revealed that despite previous declared positions, the LF was among the staunchest opponents of endorsing women’s quota, while Hezbollah not in favor but in yj case adoped by the government was intending to express reservations on the matter during the Parliamentary session. Moreover, the retraction of political parties from their previous promises to endorse the quota triggered strong criticisms from feminist and civil society groups. In this respect, ‘Women in Front’ reminded in a statement yesterday of all the documented pledges made by politicians to support women’s representation, namely House Speaker Nabih Berri. The coordinator of Future Movement’s Women Division, May Tabbal, said that the majority of women associations in the country were optimistic about reaching the requested quota, describing what happened as a new setback to women's right. Similarly, The Gathering for the Republic considered that blocking the participation of women in Parliament is a serious setback, and appealed to all political forces to engage women in politics with or without legislation. On the official level, the minister of state for administrative development affairs, Inaya Ezzideen, disclosed to Al Mustaqbal newspaper that she voiced her strong opposition for not including the quota in the electoral law, describing this as a missed historic opportunity. “Justifications made during the session were not convincing,” Ezzideen noted. For his part Kataeb Party president, Sami Gemayel, declared that authorities had no convincing reason not to approve the quota. (Lebanon 24, Al Mustaqbal, June 15 and 16, 2017)

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Narrowing gender gap adds USD 5.8 trillion to global economy

16-6-2017

The International Labor Organization (ILO) indicated in its ‘World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) – Trends for Women 2017’ report a substantial decline in the likelihood of women’s participation in the labor market as compared to men. The quality of job prospects for women remains worrying, and helping women enter the labor market is an important first step, the report noted. The current global labor force participation rate for women for the year 2017 is just over 49%, that is lower by 27 percentage points than the rate for men with no improvements anticipated in 2018, the report said. The report also mentioned that the G20 leaders have committed in 2014 to reduce the gap in participation rates between men and women by 25% by the year 2025, pointing out that efforts to achieve this target were still way below that is needed. Estimates show that if such a target is realized across the world, it can potentially yield close to USD 5.8 trillion in economic gains, and can also unlock huge potential tax revenues. The latter, according to the same report, could increase by USD 1.5 trillion. In conclusion, the WESO report called for extensive measures to be taken that improve equality in work conditions and reshape social gender roles. Measures include for example, the promotion of equal pay for work of equal value; addressing root causes of sectoral and professional discrimination; recognition of, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care, and finally, the transformation of institutions in order to prevent discrimination, violence and harassment in the workplace and to eliminate them. (Al Akhbar, Al Hayat, June 16, 2017)

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Four Russian women subject of ISIS human trafficking

15-6-2017

The Lebanese press circulated today the news of the abduction of four Russian women in Zahleh back in 2013 and their handing over to ISIS. Al Mustaqbal daily reported that the Head of the Military Court, brigadier general Hussein Abdallah, while questioning Alaa A, indicted on charges of affiliation with the terrorist group during the latter’s trial yesterday, asked him about his kidnapping of 4 Russian women from a nightclub in Zahleh, Beqaa and handing them to ISIS fighters. The defendant, Al Mustaqbal wrote, denied the accusation, stating that he was abducted along with the girls on a militant checkpoint in the town of Arsal where they were later transferred to the town of Qara. In the details, during 2013, Alaa A initially confessed that he and his nephew Omar G have together kidnaped the Russians and gave them as "gifts" to ISIS commanders, but that two months later were smuggled to Turkey. Alaa went on to say, that Omar received his “share” of the money (USD 5,000) from the “the successful deal”. In the hearing, Alaa retreated from his initial statement, insisting that he and the 4 Russian women were victims of abduction, pointing that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Criminal Court of Zahleh, while his attorney, Fadia Chdid, explained that the ruling was revoked by the Criminal Court of Cassation. Omar, on the other hand, said that he did not kidnap the Russians but that he “stayed with them until late at night”, sustaining that the amount received from Alaa two days after the abduction was only his paycheck from working at the sawmill. He denied what he initially stated, that Ahmad Bakr, Syrian, has asked his uncle Alaa to capture the Russians and hand them over to ISIS chief in the Jurd, sheikh Ahmad Jumoa. )Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 15, 2017(

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Civil and women activists protest the marginalization of women in new electoral law

15-6-2017

The exclusion of women’s quota from the newly endorsed electoral law was met with disappointment by civil society and women activists who demonstrated yesterday in Riad el Solh square to protest the missing quota and the extension to the Parliament. The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) circulated a statement elucidating the pros and cons of the new electoral law, where disadvantages were greater. For its part, the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) voiced discontent over the new electoral law which did not ensure minimal representation of women in the Parliament, reminding the government of the ministerial statement, which gave it the vote of confidence, and in which all officials have pledged to support inclusion of the women's quota in the projected elections law. The NCLW appealed to the various political parties to “nominate Lebanese women on their lists in order to guarantee a fair representation based on justice, impartiality and equality.” Similarly, the Progressive Women Union condemned what it described as a “premeditated intention by the authorities to marginalize the Lebanese woman in the political system.” Meanwhile, the minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, declared in a television interview that he did his best to include the quota, or to ensure the presence of at least one woman in every list, which some political figures turned down, as he put it.)L’Orient Le Jour, Al Mustaqbal, June 15, 2017(

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