News updates

Al Hayat issue of today published a report on Syrian women refugees from the Al Zaatari camp in Jordan who are demonstrating creativity in manufacturing goods for their families by recycling surplus or perishable goods.  The report notes that these women have very few resources yet are able to transform whatever is made available to them.  For instance, Syrian refugee women use the large container bags to make clothes or underwear for their children especially when these are white.  Overused bed sheets are recycled into warm jackets whilst other women use various scraps to produce artwork.  To be noted that, according to the newspaper, many of these women are graduates of vocational and art schools and also work in fabrics workshops or produce oriental artifacts.  Many of them were also trained on handiwork by the Jasmine Association.  The newspaper interviewed one of these women, a mother of four, who noted that she has resorted to these means in order to secure the needs of her children and especially since the aid she receives is no sufficient. (Al Hayat, February 16th, 2017)

The Parliamentary Commission for Administration and Justice completed yesterday the review of the law petition submitted by MP Elie Keyruz and which seeks to abolish clause 522 of the penal code.  The said clause protects rapists from prosecution in case they marry their victim.  Upon the end of the session, the president of the commission, MP Robert Ghanem declared that 522 has been abolished and revisions were made to clauses 503 and 521 which relate to violation of modesty.  The said clause now distinguish between the age category of victims (less than 15 years of age, between 15 and 18, and more than 18).  Revisions were made in instating a minimum sentencing which cannot be overlooked by judges.  According to Ghanem, these clauses are now more “realistic”  and due considerations were given to Lebanese customs and traditions and all that distinguishes the Lebanese society notably in the cases of tribes and clans which remain attach to cultural traditions that are different from everybody else’s!.  However, and according to L’Orient de Jour who stated parliamentary sources, clause 522 remain in force in the case of sexual crimes namely in the case of consensual intercourse with an under-aged between 15 to 18 years of age and in case intercourse followed a promise of marriage.  In both cases, criminal prosecution of rapist may not take place.  In such cases, the file is referred to a psychologist and marriage has to be approved by the victim and her family. (L’Orient le Jour, February 16th 2017)

My Nationality is A Right For Me and My Family Campaign met on February 2 with the newly appointed minister for women affairs, Jean Ogassapian, and handed him a draft of the amended the Lebanese Nationality Law that guarantees full equality between men and women in granting nationality to family members. While reiterating his personal conviction of the right of women in this issue, Ogassapian revealed that since he publicly declared his support to the above right, he received nonstop calls from spiritual circles condemning his stand. He told My Nationality delegation that conditions are not ripe to raise the issue at the present, promising to work during his 6-month term on draft laws that are deliverable and feasible. For her part, Lina Abu Habib, the executive director of the Collective for Research and Training on Development (CRTDA), described to Lebanon Debate the serious statement by the minister, who modified his stand from allegedly supportive to totally unsupportive of the just cause. What is most alarming, Abu Habib said, is that the minister changed his viewpoint under pressure from religious leaders. She questioned the credibility of a minister who, while authorized to implement the Constitution, including equality, shies away under the influence of religion. Ogassapian’s declaration, Abu Habib noted, prepares the ground for indefinite imbalance and unjustness as far as women’s rights and equality are concerned, including their right to abortion and bequeathing, and putting them under the jurisdiction of clerics who, we all know, are completely against. Abu Habib sarcastically suggested changing the name of a ‘ministry for women’s affairs’ into a ‘ministry for women’s affairs as seen by religious leaders’

 

The vice president of the UAE Gender Balance Council, Mona al Mari, revealed that over 23 thousand Emirati women are running USD 45 billion to USD 50 billion worth of businesses. Mari was speaking in her opening address of the Global Forum on Gender Statistics held last Wednesday in Dubai and attended by UN women economic empowerment officials. Mari made clear that Emirati women currently represent 43% of the workforce, with nearly 66% as state employees, 30% in leadership posts and 15% in technical occupations. It should be noted that the UAE Council of Ministers has set up in 2015 the Gender Balance Council with the aim to reduce the gender gap at the workplace, achieve a gender balance in decision making positions and promote the role of women in all fields as crucial contributors to building the future of the country. Since its inception, the said Council has launched the gender balance indicator in government institutions, aimed at setting clear-cut mechanisms and benchmarks to monitor progress according to plans adopted by the Council. On the occasion, the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said that increasing women’s effective representation and participation in the labor market and at various levels, would have its positive, collective and indiscriminate impact on the global economy and on all components of society. “We should be assured that the findings and recommendations contained in the report to be submitted to the Secretary General will undoubtedly enforce sustainable change in the conditions of women and girls around the world, and for the better,” Mlambo maintained. (Al Hayat, February 9, 2017)

 

Concurrent with the ongoing debate on upcoming electoral law, the Minister of State for Administrative Development, Inaya Ezzideen, repeated on Saturday her full commitment to the adoption of a women representation quota. Ezzideen was speaking in the Beqaa during a ceremony convened by Amal Movement on the occasion of the Arab Women’s Day. “If an electoral law based on proportional representation is seen as conducive to equal representation of all political and confessional entities, then a women quota will undoubtedly be a prelude to women’s participation in political life” Ezzideen stated. This situation, the minister explained, will herald a political atmosphere that recognizes a comprehensive participation of men and women, not only in voting, but also in decision making, as she said. For her part, the vice-president of the Lebanese Women’s Affairs Association, Randa Berri, urged the Lebanese people to contemplate and acknowledge the importance of women’s contribution to politics, economy and development issues, noting that the women’s quota is mandatory in any forthcoming elections law, regardless of its structure. Berri reiterated the full support of the House Speaker, Amal Movement and the Liberation Parliamentary Bloc to a quota (not less than 30%). On the mobilization front, the Lebanese Council of Women (LCW) announced that it will organize a meeting on Friday, February 17, 11 am, at the LCW premises in Shwayfat, to be followed by a demonstration by women to the town’s municipal serial, to urge concerned politician to work on the subject. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, February 11, 12, 13, 2017)

 

The Lebanese Cultural Space, Ninar, organized a meeting on February 7 entitled: ‘Women in Lebanon: Reality and Rights’ which was moderated by a lawyer and a journalist. Nisreen Salhab, a lawyer in entrepreneurship law, considered that despite all efforts to help establish their rights, women in Lebanon are yet deprived of the social and political entitlements. Salhab lamented the dominion of the patriarchal system which prevents any progress in this direction, drawing attention to the role of the Constitution in substantiating this system. The hitch is precisely in Article Nine of the Constitution which requires compliance with the Personal Status Law formulated to appease the patriarchal mindset that extends authority exclusively to the father, Salhab maintained. Stressing that the personal status laws incite and promote gender inequality, Salhab criticized Lebanon’s reservations to certain stipulations of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), namely those related to mothers granting nationality to their family members. Salhab also called attention to the low participation of women in the political life, mainly attributable to two key reasons. The first is the domination of prominent political families that exercise some form of political monopoly or control over relatively independent parties; and the second, is the absence of a women-friendly political culture that inspires and supports women’s participation in public decision making. Salhab underlined the urgency to adopt the women representation quota to this effect. (L’Orient Le Jour, Februay 9, 2017)

 

In the latest incidents of domestic violence in the country, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced on Wednesday the arrest of a 37-year old Lebanese father who recently abused his 2 underage daughters in the northern district of Qubayat . Citing the testimonial of the girls, the ISF statement said the violent father brutalized his girls (11 years and 13 years) by beating and burning them with a heated iron rod after locking them inside the bathroom. The medical report of the coroner has shown the presence of burns on the faces and hands of the victimized girls, ISF statement concluded. (Al Diyar, AL Mustaqbal, February 9, 2017)

 

 

The local media aired today news of a migrant woman domestic worker who threw herself from the 5th floor of her employer’s residence in the southern port city of Saida. The MWDW, a Bengali national, was transported in a critical condition to Hamud Hospital for treatment, and as usual, the police arrived at the scene of the incident for investigation. It is to be noted, that news on suicide of migrant domestic workers, are usually treated as miscellaneous in the press, raising no serious attention to the tragic conditions of MWDW. (Al Diyar, February 8, 2017)

 

Previous related news: 

Scores of MWDW recruiting agencies suspended and another suicide case in Shiya7h

Another MWDW “suicide” in Iqlim al-Kharrub

Why the recurrent suicide cases of migrant women workers?

Ethiopian MWDW slain in Jarju3, Nabatieh

Yet another suicide attempt by an Ethiopian woman domestic worker in Tripoli

A migrant woman worker assassinated in Beirut for “personal reasons”!

 

 

 

The Outreach and Leadership Academy, OLA, has launched its new initiative “Achieving Creative Entrepreneurship (ACE)” at its headquarters in Downtown Beirut district. The project comes as part of the continuing programs at the Academy inaugurated in Saida in 2015, in partnership with the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development (HFSHD) and the Lebanese American University (LAU). The aim of the initiative is to establish a culture of education and civic engagement, and to develop the youth’s innovative capacities. According to MP Bahiya Hariri, “ACE” seeks to train some 50 young cadres from the various professional sectors on the ABCs of creating ground-breaking concepts in finance, business, commerce, services, programming and electronics. Stressing that the young people are the catalyst for change, Hariri, HFSHD president, pointed out that the workshops are designed to build bridges between schoolwork and real life requirements. She concluded by underlining the importance of inventiveness and initiative taking. (Al Mustaqbal, February 5, 2017)

 

Lebanese students, Michele Tannus and Kristel Bu Karam, won the prizes for the best short movies within the framework of the annual Beirut European Film Festival. Tannus, a Lebanese American University (LAU) graduate, has won for her film “Lamha” and received acclaim from the jury, especially for her skilled archival footage. Tannus was invited to attend the Cannes Film Festival 2017 with the support of the Institut Francais du Liban. Bu Karam, a Lebanese Academy for Fine Arts (ALBA) graduate, has won a recognition for the constant and unpredictable shifting in the events of her film “Ombre” which transcended the viewer to a location different from where it started. Bu Karam has also been invited to attend the 2017 Oberhausen International Film Festival with the complements of Goethe-Institut Lebanon. To recall, around 12 short films, representing 12 cinematic arts schools in Beirut, have been competing at the European Film Festival Short Film Contest this year. Among the schools are, ALBA, Kafaat (KU), LAU, AUT, AUST, Lebanese International University (LIU), Lebanese German University (LGU), Notre Dame University (NDU) Holy Spirit University of Kaslik  (USEK), Lebanese University (LU), Antonine University (UA) and University of St. Joseph (USJ). 

(Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, February 7, 2017)