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On the occasion of the International Day of Nurses (May 12th), the An Nahar issue of today included an interview with the President of the Trade Union of Nurses in Lebanon, Dr. Nuhad Yazbek Dumit to discuss challenges faced by the nursing profession.  According to Dumit, the union includes 13500 nurses of whom 7000 provide nursing care whilst 6500 act as teachers, administrators or employees in insurance companies.  Dumit repeated a statement by the President of the Syndicate of Private hospitals in which he says that there is a need for an additional 17000 nurses.  Dumit added that the real need is above this figure especially since Lebanon counts 12000 hospital beds and each bed requires two nurses.  According to Dumit, there are several factors which deter young people from going into nursing namely the hardship of working in this sector, growing migration, negative societal perception towards nursing and the discouraging messages about nursing that young people receive. (An Nahar, May 10 2016)

 

Students of the the arts workshop affiliated to the Faculty of science at the University of Sciences And Arts in Lebanon organised yesterday at the university campus (located on the old airport road) a seminar with media professional Ghadi Francis.  The event was entitled "Women in the Media and the Challenges of the Trade".  Francis spoke about her own professional journey and the challenges she faced.  She noted that contrary to what is known, women's work in the media is easier than men's. She highlighted her experience in covering the Syrian war and how she realised that women can easily access the most dangerous of locations.  She further added that the main challenge is not in covering the war or in getting arrested a number of time but in remaining independent and not biased to any party.  (Al Mustaqbal, May 10 2016)

 

In its follow up of the human trafficking case uncovered recently during the raid of the so-called Chez Maurice night club east of Beirut, L’Orient Le Jour highlighted the role and responsibility of customers and clients of these places who remain untouched and unaffected. In this respect, the newspaper interviewed the head of the Exploitation and Trafficking in Women department at KAFA Enough Violence organization, Ghada Jabbour, who stressed that the high demand for prostitution justifies women abuse. Pointing out to the outcomes of a survey conducted by the organization and involving 55 men of different age groups and social affiliations, Jabbour revealed a connection between all the respondents, which is that everyone of them has paid for sex at least once in their lifetime. Nearly 71% of those men have expressed that their favorite spots to meet sex workers were nightclubs, against 53% who said they opted for bars. The study also indicated that while a number of respondents said sexual services in Lebanon were easy, accessible and suit different budgets, others noted that chasing prostitutes saves them the toil of a steady and official relationship. Asked about the exploitation and violence against women associated with prostitution, about 40% of respondents indicated that women prostitutes do their job knowingly of the associated risks in exchange for money. Meanwhile, 10% of the men interviewed admitted that they have noticed the marks of physical abuse on the bodies of the women they contacted. According to the same study, a large number of respondents outspokenly admitted that had it not been for the ease of access to sexual services in Lebanon, the phenomenon of harassment would have drastically proliferated. KAFA officer underlined the need to place sex customers accountable as well.

L’Orient Le Jour, May 6, 2016

 

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In a special feature published last week, Al Mustaqbal daily underscored the role of the Ministry of Social Affairs in targeting and supporting the most vulnerable refugee hosting communities in Lebanon, particularly women, with the aim to promote their economic empowerment. The newspaper highlighted the said ‘economic empowerment and community mobilization of women affected by the Sryian crisis in Lebanon project’. The project, which we highlighted the completion of its firs phase, aims at building the capacities of marginalized women living in the host communities through specialized training workshops on the various artisan, craft and food industries. According to the newspaper the program is implemented by UN Women, in partnership with the above ministry and is funded by the Japanese government. On this, Suheir Ghali, coordinator of the project, pointed out that the second phase of the program is being executed this current month and is expected to benefit about 1000 women from across Lebanon. Al Mustaqbal concluded with the success story of Yusra Sabah, from Takrit, in Akkar who provides for her family after her husband became physically impaired. After learning the trade of soapmaking, Yusra now works from the comfort of her home and sells, as a first  step, to her neighbors and the vicinity.

For more on the first phase achievements, kindly visit the following link: http://bit.ly/1Wc2x94  (Al Mustaqbal, April 30, 2016)

 

In its issue of today, An Nahar newspaper published an article by former director of UNICEF in Lebanon, Dr. Ali Zein on the rights of women to work and breast feed, with special focus on the positive health and economic benefits of breast feeding. Zein pointed out that notwithstanding the international recognition of motherhood as a social occupation, Lebanon has not to date endorsed the International Maternity Protection Convention. The government, Zein explained, reduced the agreement to an extension to 10 weeks of the maternity leave in the private and public sectors by virtue of the Law of April, 2014, noting though that it is one of the shortest maternity leaves in the world. Quoting the Central Administration of Statistics data for 2011, Zein said it has shown that the level of formal employment for women in Lebanon stood at 20.5%, increasing to a record high of 47% for under 30 years of age, then dropping to 33% in the course of five years and reaching a low of 19% at the age of 45 years. This, Zein maintained, confirms that existing policies place working women against two options: continue to work or raise a family. Even if the mother chose to continue breast feeding her child, Zein clarified, her job prevents her from doing that, particularly in the absence of proper legislations that protect and respect her wish. On the subject of women working in the informal sector, and who constitute a big percentage of the workforce, Zein noted that due to the unofficial registration of similar jobs and occupations, women workers are left with no rights and  are therefore unprotected. The former UNICEF representative finally underlined the need for Lebanon to sign the Maternity Convention and to develop a new law that will ensure the protection of motherhood. (An Nahar, May 5, 2016)

 

In a report published last Saturday, Al Akhbar daily noted that describing the first of May Labor Day as a holiday associated with male workers and providers has many reasons. One notable factor is historically related to the definition of ‘labor’ by capitalist systems which do not count domestic work as real work or job. On the subject, the newspaper interviewed feminist researcher and activist, Bernadette Daou, who stressed that Labor Day is an annual occasion celebrated by various leftists movements. She pointed out that “while most of the communist parties look at labor from a mainstream point of view which is based on the ‘work for pay’ notion, there are jobs that remain unrewarded, such as housekeeping.” Underlining the need to give it an  economic value, Daou said that recognizing housework not only does justice to women as a social class, but also to a large category of migrant and refugee domestic workers who live under harsh conditions closer to slavery. This, she explained, is because of the lack of recognition of domestic work as an occupation that calls for equal guarantees and rights for its workers. Daou maintained that not recognizing housework worsens the exploitation of women, for they have to work inside and outside their house. However, she added, labeling domestic work as an inferior occupation immediately stops when it is acknowledged as a job that has economic value. Similarly, professor of sociology and feminism, Rima Majed, considered that celebrating Labor Day as a holiday for “the male breadwinner” is mostly attributed to the dominant male patriarchal mentality.” (Al Akhbar, April 30, 2016)

 

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers WAN-IFRA organized last April 27 a round table in Beirut to discuss its pioneer program ‘Women in the News’. The purpose of the said program is to empower women journalists and editors in targeted countries of Africa and the Middle East region, (Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana) and facilitate their promotion to senior jobs within media institutions. The meeting also sought to engage executives and experts in the media and discover or create new ways that support gender equality, particularly in senior positions in the print and electronic media.

The Daily Star, April 28, 2016

 

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Data released by the Ministry of Interior indicate that the candidacy of women in the municipal elections for Beirut and Beqaa areas has not exceeded 4% so far. According to the same source, the number of candidates for the membership of the municipal council in the capital stood at 114 candidates, 92 males against 22 females, i.e. 19.2%. For the position of ‘mukhtar’ (mayor), 226 candidates were recorded, including 216 men against only 10 women. Meanwhile, figures for Beqaa, have pointed out to 4,524 candidates, including 4,268 men against only 159 women candidates, (equivalent to 3.5%). (For more date, kindly visit the following link:  http://bit.ly/1Ti9Q8t)

In the same vein, An Nahar daily highlighted the strong presence of women in the battle for Beirut municipal elections, particularly on the ‘Beirut Madinati’ list. The latter, An Nahar noted, fully adhered to the principle of parity among men and women candidates through the nomination of 12 females coming from diverse professional backgrounds and affiliations. On the other hand, and according to An Nahar, the ‘Bayarti’ list, claims to have favored the professional background of candidates, thus only selecting three women (!?). On the other hand, the ‘Citizens within a State’ (Muwatinoon Wa Muwatinat Fi Dawla) civil and secular campaign decided to nominate only three women for the Baalbaq Municipality. On this subject, Al Akhbar daily interviewed the nominee Hadil Rifai who confirmed her running for elections for two reasons. The first reason is the extent of marginalization of women and their right to take part in public affairs and secondly, because historically Baalbaq was excluded from the development process, hence prompting her to propose a developmentally-oriented electoral program.

An Nahar, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Akhbar, April 29, 30, 2016

 

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