News updates

The Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, met yesterday in his office with a delegation of tobacco growers and heads of municipalities in order to announce a new initiative which consists in distributing community development aid to municipalities of tobacco growing villages through the Lebanese Regie des Tabacs et Tombacs.  The general director of the “Regie”, engineer Nassif Saklaowi, noted after the meeting that the project presented by the Board of the Regie seeks to involve municipalities in providing assistance to the local community of farmers in their villages and so as to enable them to implement urgent development projects which may include irrigation ponds, water systems, agricultural roads, agricultural extension, etc… These projects are expected to be implemented within an agreed timetable.  To be noted that heads of municipalities present in the meeting had already submitted their projects timetable to the Minister.  Saklaowi noted that the Regie is aiming to include a new budget item to cover similar initiatives in its annual budget which would eventually include all villages involved in tobacco growing.

Source: Al-Diyar 21 August 2014

Wheat farmers in the Beqaa suffer from several problems namely rising cost of production as well as the exploitation of traders, but mainly the neglect by the Ministry of Economy who has yet to issue any information regarding the mechanisms for receiving and pricing their new harvest, a matter of great concern to the farmers.  As a result, wheat farmers in Mid, West and North Beqaa as well as Rashayya have threatened with escalation of their protests against public neglect.  The farmers noted that the mechanism for receiving and pricing the new harvest is still in pipeline since more than one month and has not been placed on the agenda of the cabinet meetings.  Farmers, who had met at the headquarters of their syndicate in Riyyaq, threatened to close the main and international roads to pressure the Ministry and force it to quickly collect the new harvest.  The head of the syndicate of wheat farmers, Ibrahim Tarshishi, said that the farmers were witnessing an unprecedented neglect in processing of their harvest whilst the Ministry is not bothered by their plea as if it is seeking to destroy them instead of doing them justice especially that food is an essential staple product of key importance for food security.

To be noted that the WEEPortal had already addressed this issue.  Please refer to previous postings:  “Wheat production in Beqaa drops by 25% and the Ministry of the Economy is absent”, on 11/7/2014 and "Akkar farmers demand a raise of wheat prices to guarantee sustainability", on 27/6/2014.

Source: Al-Safir, Al-Akhbar 20 August 2014

As Safir newspaper published a report about household Mooneh which women exclusively make.  The report focused on the situation of Mooneh in the Beqaa based on the accounts of two women, namely Lorette Gerges from Ferzol and Um Kassem from Ali Nahri who described her products as “healthy bites”.  Um Kassem produces Mooneh free from chemicals and additives and distributes it amongst her family.  Gerges for her part considers Mooneh to be an economic need for rural women as it has gone beyond household pantries to reach shelves in supermarkets with possibilities for external marketing especially with the existence of rural women cooperatives, women group, and factories for packaging as well as new marketing channels.  Gerges said that she started her experience as a solidarity group of around 20 women who set up a food-processing cooperative to produce Mooneh and selling it locally and internationally.  Gerges added that Mooneh making is a hereditary skill but they have added to it new practices such as safe packaging according to international standards.  She also noted that women cooperatives have become a major outlet for farmers’ products.

Source: Al-Safir 20 August 2014

The General Secretary of the Federation of Lebanese Chambers and Treasurer of the Chamber of Trade and Industry in Tripoli, Tufic Dabbussi, met in his office in Tripoli yesterday a delegation included the Gathering of Lebanese Business Women, headed by its president Layla Salhab Karameh and accompanied by a group of Yemeni business women headed by Najlaa Chemaissani.
Dabbussi praised Salhab’s role in developing the business sector and empowering women as well as in reaching out to various business women groups in the Arab world.  He also stressed on the complementarity between Lebanese and Yemeni business women and their efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.  For her part, Salhab clarified that the purpose of the visit was to strengthen links between the business sector in Tripoli and the North and its counterpart in Yemen and so as to make Tripoli a hub for joint Arab economic and investment initiatives.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 19 August 2014

The Minister of Labor, Sejaan Azzi, issued a new memorandum which requires all migrant workers to take a TB test as well as a chest x-ray especially in view of the increasing number of TB amongst migrant domestic workers and Syrian refugees.  The memorandum which will enter into force 15 days after its registration, calls on all migrant workers wishing to work in Lebanon to carry out a TB test during the first week following their arrival to Lebanon.  The memo also notes that renewal of work permits and first time permits will not be processed unless applicants possess the test results issued exclusively by public hospitals.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar 19 August 2014

The Minister of Tourism, Michel Pharaon, inaugurated the Meyrouba tourism and artistic festival on Sunday August 17th with the participation of the Municipal head, Michel Khalil, the organizer of the festival and the agricultural exhibition, Charbel Saadeh, and a large number of participants and visitors, while the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, had previously inaugurated the villages’ agricultural, handicraft and industrial exhibition a day earlier. In his opening address, Minister Pharaon noted that these festivals are keys to local tourism as they attract citizens and tourists from various parts of the countries.  He reiterated the importance of communal living, dignity, sovereignty and democracy highlighting that these festival are an important message which indicate a refusal to give in to extremism, a commitment to democracy, and support to the Lebanese state.
Source: Al-Diyar 19 August 2014

The Rural Development Cooperative Association in Kfarshuba organized last week a beekeeping training which extended over two days.  Beekeepers and farmers from the village took part in this event which was implemented in collaboration with the LIVCD programme in Lebanon which is financed by the USAID.  Training focused on beekeeping techniques and ways to develop it and included practicum training on existing beehives in the area during which beekeepers were provided with the special protective attire offered by the programmes. The president of the cooperative association, Nazih Yehya, noted that the association will continue to offer such training in order to meet the needs of farmers and beekeepers in Kfarshuba and in surrounding areas and in order to disseminate knowledge on ways of developing the local productive sectors which constitute important sources of livelihood to many families in the region.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 18 August 2014

Women Social and Welfare Association organized a literacy training course in Ayn Attah and which bore the slogan “adult learning for a better life”.  The training which extended over four months was implemented under the auspices of the Municipality and in direct coordination with MOSA. Special literacy educator were in charge of the training which comprised 100 hours of teaching spread over three days per week at a rate of two hours a day. The activity sought to teach women how to read and write and will also include follow-up courses.
The association’s president, Samar al Hage Al Kadi, noted that the training was based on a study conducted in a village and which showed that there are 53 women aged between 55 and 70 who were illiterate.  Al Kadi also noted the importance of the impact of the training on women’s lives. She added that the life opportunities of women should not be jeopardized because of their inability to read and write at a time when knowledge has become a key asset for individuals.

Source: Al-Safir 18 August 2014

The Daily Star newspaper published an article about “Ashghaluna”, a self-sustaining social enterprise that builds on the traditional roles of women, and transforms them into vehicles for empowerment.  The institution which seeks to help widows, many of whom had never worked before, to gain the necessary skills to provide for their children, is a part of Social Welfare Institutions in Lebanon. It had a modest start with only five women working in a small apartment in 1986, but recently expanded into a full-fledged center which includes a workshop staffed with 39 women and a kitchen/restaurant which employs 11 women. Women working in the center have child-friendly working hours extending from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5 days per week. The center is located just off Spears Street in Beirut. It provides a variety of products that range between fabrics and food products along with other handcrafted items. The center is open to customers daily from 9 am to 4 pm, while the restaurant hosts an open buffet lunch for USD 25 person with platters of traditional Lebanese food every Friday. It is to be noted that working women are provided with health insurance and a salary, and are paid school fees for their children.

Source: The Daily Star 18 August 2014

The Auberge Beyti association inaugurated yesterday under the auspices of Care organization a project entitled women and health.  The project is located in Kfarzebian – Kesrwan, is funded by the network for social accountability in the Arab region and aims at raising the quality of health services in the region especially in terms of emergency care.  The president and director of Auberge Beyti, Josephine Zoughaib, noted in her opening address that the project will start off by on using the “social assessment cards” for sharing views, opinions and issues raised by health service providers and users.  This will be followed by putting together a joint plan for improving health care performance.  For his part, the general director of the social accountability in the Arab world network, Dr. Said Issa, spoke about the role of the network in disseminating concepts and mechanisms of social accountability.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal 13 August 2014