News updates

A group of feminist and social activists launched what they named HarassTracker website containing a map that tracks incidents of harassment in an attempt to raise awareness on this condemnable manifestation. By visiting http://harasstracker.org one can view the areas, addresses and types of harassment incidents reported by victims or witnesses. One of the co-founder of the project, Nay Raii, explained that documenting the occurrences of harassment can assist women by warning them of certain places with high rates of such incidents. “Daily testimonies can help us in our advocacy cases and in the protection of women, as well as in pressing the government to meet our demands,” Raii pointed out, suggesting for example the issue of street lights as a preventative measure against harassment.. As for the long-term goal of the website, Raii further clarified that it aims “to open a debate about harassment and shift the public discourse from blaming the victim and talking down the subject to exposing the causes and potential interventions,” as she said. Raii finally expressed her hopes that the initiative will deliver the desired outcomes, and will be a starting point for stretching the services to all of Lebanon. (Al Akhbar, February 25, 2016)

 

The Federation of Municipalities of Mount Amel donated last Sunday a sewing workshop to Al 3ata2 association for women and elderly in the southern village of Taybeh. The opening of the workshop took place at the organization’s premises in the presence of the head of the Federation, Ali Zein, the secretary of the association in Beirut, Faten Kazan and member, Ghassan Mubarak, in addition to a group of concerned women. Kazan thanked the Federation of Municipalities for the generous contribution which will assist women through the creation of jobs or even recreation. (Al Diyar, February 22, 2016)

 

Your Right is a Guarantee for Your Family’ campaign aims to relentlessly continue with its activities until all discriminatory legislations against women, particularly the Social Security Law, are rectified. As such the campaign organised yesterday a closing ceremony for those activities launched in the framework the initiative entitled, ‘Everyone is a Winner: Social and Economic Empowerment of Women in Lebanon’ and which is part of the campaign (for the full news: http://bit.ly/1l4O6n8). Concurrently, Search for Common Grounds association, in coordination with ALEF-Act for Human Rights organization continue to receive applications for their jointly planned media competition which seeks to highlight the unequal social and economic status of women in Lebanon through the production of media material. The two main terms for the said contest, is that the proposed material should be submitted in Arabic, English or French; and the material and the registration form be sent no later than February 28. Winners of each category, who will be selected by a jury of media representatives and civil society activists, will be informed by email, and will be granted the opportunity to publish their material in An Nahar newspaper. During the closing ceremony, the project coordinator, Yasmine Masri insisted that: the project will not stop until all relevant discriminatory laws are reformed; adding that meetings with officials and deputies will resume once the work of the Parliament is reactivated. (An Nahar, February 23, 2016)

 

The Lebanese Council of Women (LCW) held last Friday a ceremony to honor Rabab Sadr for her notable charitable contributions, including the building of houses for disadvantaged children, according to LCW chief Jamal Hurmos Ghabril.  Sadr, likewise, pointed out that the cause of the outburst of communities is the oppression and discrimination practiced against women, coupled with inadequate development as a result of the first. “Today, some seek to link terrorism to Islam, which is fatally wrong. Islam on the contrary calls for equality and social justice, fights ignorance and promotes the role of women as the cornerstone of society,” Sadr stated. And while stressing the need to build a woman’s personality based on profound self-confidence, Sadr emphasized the importance of complementarity between men and women to avoid undesirable social crises. (Al Mustaqbal, February 20, 2016)

 

The Spot network of shopping malls launched recently a social media campaign aimed at connecting mothers with their children scattered in the countries of Diaspora. The hashtag shta2tellikmom invites the young Lebanese men and women living outside to send a selfie expressing their love and longing to their moms. The owner of the most innovative video shall win a free ticket to Lebanon giving him the opportunity to celebrate Mothers’ Day with his mom. It should be noted that according to the latest statistics, more than 45% of Lebanese women are emigrants, and that over 59% of the youth between 35 and 39 years of age live and work outside Lebanon and see their parents on holidays only, which does not include Mothers’ Day. (Al Mustaqbal, February 22, 2016)

 

Stephanie Hanna and Aline Gemayel won the Francophone Women Award in Investment World 2015. While Hanna won the first prize for her project ‘Your Name’, Aline Gemayel and Emile Arayes came second for the Modeo interior decoration application of an original furniture design that goes from the internet directly to the consumers’ offices or residences. Hanna’s project was based on her experience in the West where uses ‘etiquette’ labels are widely used by parents to communicate with their children at school, or by scouts while practicing their hobbies. In an interview with An Nahar, Hanna explained that she was inspired by her experience as a mother who continuously seeks to find the matching etiquette labels for her children and designed a specific application for the contest that uses French and English labels for kindergarten kids. The latter application helps daycare centers to identify the needs of children to diagnose or determine the type of disease or allergy to certain foods which they suffer from. The idea for the ‘Modeo’ project, on the other hand, came after an arduous search by interior decorators, Arayes and Gemayel, for their marital home furniture. They finally agreed to develop an application, still under experimentation, that will facilitate the selection of furniture for houses or offices. The said application, Gemayel explained, will grant consumers the opportunity to personally design their furniture, and thereafter send it to Emile and Aline for implementation in a short period of time, or alternatively choose from an existing collection of private offices or kitchen cabinets or other modern home accessories. (An Nahar, February 17, 2016)

 

In collaboration with the Federation of the Municipalities of Rashaya and West Beqaa, the Generations for Building Peace association launched last Friday a campaign ‘Haqqi Sharik’ (My Right to Participate) which seeks to strengthen women’s participation in municipal councils, as well as support women running for the 2016 municipality elections. The campaign is the outcome of coordination between Sanabel al Ataa Charity for Educational and Human Issues, the National Association for Women Providers in the Rural Areas and the Environment Gathering in Rashaya Constituency. The launching ceremony took place at Al Bireh town hall in Rashayya under the patronage of Health Minister Wael Abu Faoor represented by Aref Mghames and in the presence of several women activists from the Beqaa area. (Al Mustaqbal 16 February, 2016)

 

The President of the Phalange Kataeb Party, Sami Gemayel said that women and girls have been denied credit and recognition of their achievements and innovation in the field of sciences, pointing out that the rate of women who received the Noble Prize did not exceed 3%. Gemayel who was speaking yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York on the occasion of the “International Day for Women and Girls in Science”, noted that while the number of Lebanese women with university degrees in the science discipline outweigh that of men, males still dominate research, as well as senior professional posts at various positions in the teaching of science and engineering in Lebanon, The Lebanese MP also referred to the “gradual decrease in women representation as we go up in the professional echelons,” lamenting the loss of women outstanding talents and urging men to play a more active role in the promotion and development of women’s potentials. Gemayel outlined the outcome of a recent study which indicated that the ratio of academic women holders of Grade D accounted for 61% against 23% of Grade A holders, (the latter is the highest grade which normally allows its holder to do scientific research), adding that only two out of 42 teaching institutions in Lebanon are headed by a woman. Gemayel also pointed out to the various challenges facing women scientists in Lebanon, namely common stereotypes, social norms, defective legal system and inequality in career promotion and salary. He also mentioned the absence of scientific research and development centers and scarcity of jobs in the field. Finally Gemayel put forward a number of recommendations which he considered as feasible. For more information: http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/205888. (Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, Al Diyar, February, 12 & 13, 2016)

 

UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, appointed Lebanese head of the International Committee for the Preservation of Tyre, Maha Khalil Chalabi, as its new good will ambassador, to be officially announced during a ceremony on February 17 at the Organization’s headquarters in Paris. In her introduction of Chalabi, Bokova said that the Tyre committee was founded back in May 1980 in Paris to support the implementation of several programs, notably ‘The International UNESCO Campaign for Tyre and its Environs’. The latter was launched in 1988 for the rehabilitation and socio-cultural development of the southern city. In 2008, the ‘Tyre Foundation’ was created for the purpose of launching an open museum and expo in the City known as ‘Europe, the Daughter of Tyre’. Another of her achievements Bokova mentioned was the establishment of ‘The League of the Canaanite, Phoenician and Punic Cities’ which covers a wide network of cities sharing the same history in order to activate the dialogue of civilizations and promote peace. In 1984, Chalabi published her thesis at the Sorbonne entitled ‘West/East Relationships Analyzed through Tyre Travelers during the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries’. In 2008, her book ‘The Phoenician Art: New Expressions’ was released on which she invites readers to discover an art through the  history, culture, crafts, beliefs as well as the myths of its nations . (An Nahar, February 11, 2016)