News updates

The number of Sri Lankan workers in the Middle East is estimated to have reached 1.2 million the majority of whom are employed as domestic workers.  Recently, the Sri Lankan ambassador to Kuwait, C. A.Wijeratne, announced that his government is seriously considering putting an end the migration of Sri Lankan workers especially to the Middle East in view of the negative consequences of this phenomenon which, according to the ambassador, is leading to the dissolution of families.  The ambassador clarified that no decision has been take yet but is under serious consideration and without exceptions.  He added that the decision was also informed by the poor living conditions of Sri Lankan workers in the region, the low salaries they receive and the ill treatment that many suffer.
Source: AL-Diyar 17 February 2014

The USEK University in Kaslik launched in October 2013 the Baladyat project which aims at encouraging young women and men to take part in municipal work.  L’Orient le Jour spoke with the coordinator of this project, Mirna Abboud Mzawwik, who explained that the project extends over two years and will seek to encourage young women and men to engage in municipal work through providing them with opportunities which match their capacities.  Mzawwik noted that the project has three stakeholders: local governance, the USEK University and civil society organizations.  She added that participating municipalities currently include Keserouen – Ftouh and Jbeil whilst the project is seeking to enlarge the number of municipalities. Mzawwik also presented the current partners of the project which includes a number of embassies, local and international NGOs namely: Italian Embassy and Cooperation office, UNESCO, Initiatives Association, Arc en Ciel, Lebanese Montors Association, OFRA Association, Fair Trade, and Kun Hadi.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 8 February 2014

Endeavour Lebanon organized a round table yesterday to discuss management of human capital in small and medium enterprises in Lebanon, which highlighted the problem of poor usage of local talents by Lebanese companies compared to international companies.  The round table begun with a definition of human capital management which entails three main abilities, namely: ability to attract talents, to make use of talents, and capacity to develop talents.
The assistant manager of Weber Shandwick, Farah Bashasha, discussed the weakness of Lebanon’s performance at the level of international competitiveness in human capital as Lebanon scores a modest regional classification and a low 103 scoring globally, and this according to the reports of the international economic forum for 2013-2014. For their part, Jordan ranked 63d with Qatar and UAE ranking 13 and 19th respectively based on the same source.  According to the speaker who quoted the study done by Endeavour Insight, Lebanon’s competitiveness classification remains low despite the fact that the country enjoys some of the best educational and business administration institutions.  However, Lebanon witnessed a downfall at the level of other competitiveness requirements namely: ICT and general infrastructure, the efficiency of the job market, modest innovation in business in more generally the mismatch between skills acquired by university graduates and the requirements of the job market.  The administrative director of Endeavour Lebanon, Tarek Al-Saadi pointed out to continuing problem of brain drain and the absence of any corrective measures or public policies thus allowing foreign companies to use Lebanese talents whilst local companies are late in realizing their needs for human resources.
Source: Al-Nahar 11 February 2014

The General Confederation of Lebanese Workers organized the fifth regular session for the Arab Confederation of Farmers, Agro-industrial Workers and Fishermen.  The event was held last week at the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers headquarters and was presided by the general secretary of the confereration, Salah Ibrahim, with the participation of Mohammed Salem, the head of the central council, Ibrahim Abido from the confederation of farmers’ union in Syria, and the president of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, Ghassan Ghosn.
The head of the tobacco farmers syndicate in the south, Hasan Fakih, gave a helicopter view of the current situation in Arab countries especially in terms of the poor management of water and agricultural resources as well as the neglects of overall development, fighting poverty and support to agro industry.  He reiterated the importance of confessional divisions and highlighted the need to engage in dialogue and the important role played by trade unions in pressuring government to change their course of action as well as their positions.
Ghosn talked for his part about the key role played by General Confederation of Lebanese Workers in strengthening the role of trade unions in the region and worldwide through the alliance between International Confederation, Organization of African Trade Union Unity, and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions. He called on popular organizations, namely trade unions, to maintain their unity and continue doing pioneering work in defending workers and the nation.
Source: Al-Diyar 10 February 2014

The President of the Association of Farmers in Lebanon ِAntoine Houayek, called through As Safir newspaper today farmers to start irrigating some of the fields or replanting them again in anticipation of  prolonged water shortage.  Hayek noted that some fields are starting to lose their vitality and are beginning to feel the effect of drought.
Despite this problem, he added that agriculture in Lebanon is still doing well especially since water shortage is not a new phenomenon as it has recurred several times during the past few years and that crops have not yet been drastically affected.  He described current views about a potentially disastrous situation of the agriculture sector as groundless and not based on credible standards or a correct understanding.  He further called to wait until mid February to judge the impact of low rainfall, adding that the expected rainfalls during the coming few days are likely to compensate prior negative effect.  However, he also warned that should the level of rainfall remain the same, farmers should, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, develop alternative plans to secure necessary irrigation according to the needs of different crops.
Source: Al-Safir 7 February 2014

As Safir published yesterday a report on the discrepancy in the unemployment figures released by international institutions, particularly given the absence of any reliable national statistics on the needs of the employment markets in the private and public sectors and the fact that there is no population census since 1932.
The president of General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, Ghassan Ghosn noted that estimations for the unemployment rates vary significantly between ILO, World Bank and ESCWA and none matches the figures of official Lebanese authorities.  Ghosn said that unemployment amongst the youth segment of the population has exceeded 37% in 2013 according to the data available with the general trade union.  He clarified that this figure was estimated taking into consideration the young people who have lost their jobs in 2013 as well as university graduates actively looking for a job and those who have emigrated.
Although none doubts that unemployment rates have increased in 2013 compared to 2012, the ILO report entitled “Global Employment Trends 2014” which was released last month places unemployment amongst the youth at a lower level of 22% in 2013.  The report notes the correlation with the events in the region and the impact of the Syrian crisis on the Lebanese economy and the state of the job market.
Furthermore, Ghosn pointed out, within the same vein, that the influx of Syrian refugees has increased the size of the low-skilled labor force by 30% to 50% thus intensifying competition amongst job seekers.  He highlighted the importance of applying policies that would invigorate the job market, improve productivity and create new job opportunities. He noted that Lebanese economy is only creating 9,000 jobs a year compared to a total of 35,000 jobs needed so as to absorb the newcomers from universities and technical schools. Ghosn also noted that 563,949 workers are registered at the NSSF, while 200,000 other workers are engaged in the informal sector such as in micro and small enterprises as well as in construction sites.
Source: Al-Safir 5 February 2014

The Ministry of Agriculture organized yesterday a national seminar on food protocol (Codex Alimentarius) which is implemented and developed in Lebanon with the support of the FAO.  The food protocol is the outcome of a similarly named international al organisation created by both FAO and the WHO in order to develop food safety standards taking which takes into consideration health and hygiene and the international food trade standards. The international protocol was adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture four years ago in order to set up standards that are specific to food products.

The FAO representative, Mohammed Momen, kicked off the seminar by expanding on the importance of collaboration between FAO and Lebanon in what concerns the Food Protocol and the importance of the regular meeting held every three years to operationalise international standards so as to safeguard human health.  He added that Lebanon is maintaining international standards as much as possible and is constant liaison with FAO and other international organizations concerned with human health and nutrition.

Minister Haj Hassan noted for his part that the importance of this event which aims to familiarize public and private institutions with the Food Protocol while stressing the importance of meeting these international standards.  He added that his Ministry is hoping that Lebanon will be able to adhere to international standards and be able to take decisions regarding food, agriculture and animal husbandry at the highest international levels.  He indicated that international standards are being applied on imports and hopefully will in the future apply with equal care on exports.  Haj Hassan highlighted that his Ministry has made strides recently to ensure that Lebanon becomes more fully integrated in regional trade.

In a related vein, the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MoE&T) is organising within the framework of the International Day of the Consumer for 2014, a competition amongst Lebanese Universities entitled “Innovation in Food Safety” which first phase will kick off next Saturday with four evaluation sessions to assess scientific research projects submitted by university students.  The final results of the competition will be announced during an official ceremony on March 13rth 2014.  To be noted that this event seeks to strengthen collaboration between the university education sector and the practical sector through developing a comprehensive programme to improve quality and safety of food products offered to the Lebanese consumer.  Students participating in this competition will come from various specialties namely agriculture, nutrition, food safety and quality control, food science and technology, from the following universities; American University for Technology, Beirut Arab University, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Global University, German Lebanese University, Lebanese American University, International Lebanese University, Manar University in Tripoli, and Haigazian University.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 6 February 2014

CALVATIS CALGONIT MEA organised in collaboration with the Notre Dame University a meeting yesterday to discuss a book authored by Elias Khattar Kanaan on “hygiene and public health in the hospitality sector” and which focuses on food safety.
In his address, Khattar highlighted the importance of food safety policies and standards which he considered to be now more important than ever as the consequences of failure in this domain are reflected in an increased number of food poisoning accidents.  He also noted that whilst producers are trying to address problems which may cause disease, the role of the media is equally important in raising consumers’ awareness on the importance of food safety standards.  Furthermore, he added that the Ministry of Public Health and other concerned authorities should also introduce a law for controlling food production.

Source: Al-Nahar 5 February 2014

The National Council for Scientific Research (NCSR) launched in collaboration with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (IAMB) in Italy the project entitled “Best Sustainable Development Practices on Food Security” during a seminar organised last week in Beirut with the participation of the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Hajj Hasan, the representative of FAO in Lebanon, Ali Momen, the General Secretary of the National Council for Scientific Research, Dr. Muin Hamzeh and and the Head of Cooperation Office at IAMB, Biagio Di Terlizzi.

Hamzeh kicked off the seminar by highlighting the role of the National Council which is the focal point of this project. He added that the project is implemented with financial support from Milan Expo 2015 and seeks at identifying the best agricultural practice that will bring about food security.  He also emphasized the need to develop human resources, expertise, and a pool of pioneers who are able to develop creative projects in Lebanon that can compete at the global level so as to be selected among the best 15 projects in the world.  Momen for his part discussed the concept of food security and review Lebanon capacity to achieve a balanced economic and social situation.

Minister Hajj Hassan noted for his part that best practices in sustainable development and food security is ac crucial issue particularly since there is no food security or sustainable development in Lebanon, as a result of insufficient production levels and unfavorable terms of trade.  He also added that food security cannot be achieved by individual national policies since it is influenced by international regional policies.  Hajj Hassan also criticized the practices of the WTO and the Arab Common Market and called for further efforts to open external markets.  He also regretted the endemic instability of social and economic policies in Lebanon over the past 25 years at a time when the role of agriculture has been reduced to a critical level and he invited a critique of present governmental policies and so as to effect change and to adopt truly good practices.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Safir 3 February 2014