News updates

Feker Hayat Foundation celebrated the graduation of the women who took part in the "Women Empowerment 2" workshop which was funded by MEPI.  The event was held last Tuesday at the central administration of the Lebanese University under the auspices of the US Embassy and with the participation of the Minieh-Dennyeh TV.  The event was attended by heads of organisations as well as key figures from the area in addition to the project beneficiaries.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 13 June 2013

The René Moawad Foundation launched its project to improve the livelihoods of women in North Lebanon.  The project is funded by the European Union and is implemented with Al Mada, Fair Trade, DOT Lebanon, and the NGO Committee to Follow-Up on Women's Issues.  The event was held at the Halba municipality with the attendance of members of NGO and cooperatives in addition to local women and community leaders.
The project aims at strengthening women's economic growth in North Lebanon through creating a collaboration network with many organisations as well as upgrading cooperatives and marketing in the region.  The project targets 500 women in 17 villages located in Akkar and Denneyeh and will be implemented in a number of stages.  Fourteen trainers have been deployed in six locations in order to carry out training in women's economic rights and information.  This will be followed by the setting up of 10 to 17 small projects.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Akhbar 13 June 2013

The Interior Security Academy in Werwar organised yesterday a graduation ceremony for 465 male officers and 59 female officers.  The event was attended by the Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Mr. Marwan Charbel who noted that military and security forces will be on the lookout for any attempts to jeopardise safety and stability in Lebanon.
Source: Al-Safir 13 June 2013

The CLDH (Centre Libanais des Droits Humains) condemned in a statement published on its Facebook page the poor conditions of detention of more than 30 migrant women domestic workers at the Palace of Justice in Jdeideh.  The statement follows the onsite visit carried out by a delegation of the organisation in order to observe their living conditions.  The statement noted that each six women share a room of no more than 6 square meters which does not receive any sunlight.  Furthermore, detained women are not allowed to go out and cannot have fresh drinking water or food except what their friends send them.  The statement added that in case of illness, no health care service is provided except after the authorization of the police station that arrested them, while pointing out that according to regulations the migrant workers may not be detained for more than 4 days whereas many have been kept there for more than a month with no monitoring or judicial follow-up.  
Following the visit to the detention center, the organisation contacted the district attorney as well as the Ministry of Interior so that they intervene immediately in these cases of arbitrary detentions noting that this is another example of the ways in which the state deals poorly with detainees in general and with women migrant domestic workers in particular.
And in a related vein, the An Nahar newspaper reported that an Ethiopian domestic workers named Biscoff Kassawat committed suicide in her employers' home n Choueifat.  The autopsy revealed that she was six months pregnant whereas her employers asserted that she was only working for them since three months adding that she treated the children well and never showed any sign of being suicidal.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 13 June 2013

Souk el Tayeb hosted last Saturday its partners in the Marakanda project which is funded by the European Union, aims at preserving traditional markets of food and crafts in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Lebanon and Spain, and seeks to protect local small producers and shop holders.  Souk el Tayeb organised an event for this occasion in its restaurant known as Tawlet to announce the start of the project which will extend over two years. One of the project partners, Francesco Barilli, described the project which is managed by the Municipality of Florence, as a solidarity network amongst markets in the countries covered by the project.  The project will contribute through the exchange of experience to enabling these markets to become more competitive.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 11 June 2013
 

The Lebanese Organization of Studies and Training (LOST) concluded its Dutch Embassy-funded project entitled the Women's Rights Academy and which was implemented in Baalbeck/Hermel.  The closing event which was held early this week, included a graduation ceremony for students from the Electronics and Commercial Arts Center (ECC), and was attended by local dignitaries as well as the participants in the project.  The president of LOST described in his speech the work of the academy which focused on raising awareness of 160 women in the region through raising awareness on issues such as women's participation in public affairs, human and women rights.  He also revealed that his association is currently preparing for new projects targeting women and announced that 30 scholarships are available for women to participate in various vocational training workshops such as hairdressing, make-up artists, photography and accounting.
Source: Al-Nahar, NNA 12 June 2013

Endeavour organised early this week a roundtable entitled "secrets of the trade in innovation" as part of a series of roundtables aiming at exploring innovation as part of an overall effort to create an enabling environment for businesses and for the success of local projects.  Participants in the roundtable included Kafalat CEO, Khater Abi Habib, the professor at Olayan -School of Business at AUB , Bizhan Azad, and Tarek Saadi, Endeavor CEO.
Discussions begun by highlighting the critical importance of innovation to business people and as a condition for businesses to prosper particularly in world markets as well as to increase competitiveness through adapting to the work environments which are advancing rapidly.  This was followed by a discussion of two new innovation methodologies namely (Strategyn) and (Innosight).  These two methodologies seek to identify the best opportunities for innovation through researching and understanding customers' behaviors.  Discussions also focused on the critical role played by financial institutions in supporting innovation and ensuring the success of innovative businesses. The roundtable concluded with an overview of the present general environment in Lebanon that is surrounding emerging businesses which as result require extensive support and resources given the current economic difficulties and security challenges in the country.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 11 June 2013

The Minister of Economy and Trade Nicholas Nahhas exchanged together with the President of the Board of Directors of BLC bank, Maurice Sahnaoui, a memorandum of understanding through which BLC bank will be provided with the Ministry's database and statistics to be uploaded in the website devoted for disseminating useful and practical information to holders of small and micro enterprises.  During the signing event, BLC bank revealed that it has entered into an exclusive partnership with International Finance Company IFC to launch the Lebanese edition of the specialized website  http://WWW.LEBNON.SMETOOLKIT.COM .
The website was developed by IDM to serve as a technology platform for the creation of a conducive environment for the development of small and medium enterprises in Lebanon and thus will provide an interactive system to small and medium business holders so as to enable them to learn, exchange and network on best practices in managing sustainable businesses, increasing productivity and profits, in accessing larger financing and internal and external markets.
The President of the Board of Directors of BLC bank noted that the engagement of the bank in this initiative reflects its commitment to small and medium enterprises sector and to the role it can play in economic growth, comprehensive development, and in creating work opportunities.  He added that several pilot and professional programmes were prepared to improve businesses such as non financial services, counseling, training, needs assessment and the recognition of successful business through the provision of awards for the best woman entrepreneur and for best projects. Sahnaoui particularly spotlighted the success achieved by the women empowerment initiative which is implemented in collaboration with IFC.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, Al-Safir 11 June 2013

The Minister of Economy and Trade Nicholas Nahas, inaugurated early this week the training workshop organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and entitled: "The training of Trainers Programme and managing intangible assets in small and medium enterprises".  The event was held at the premises of Economic and Social Council in downtown Beirut.
Nahhas noted the importance of training workers in both the private and public sectors in the field of providing counseling and technical assistance in order to define, protect, and manage intellectual property assets while pointing out to the positive implications of such training on the national economy especially in terms enhancing the capacity of small and medium enterprises to enter international markets.  He indicated that intellectual property now constitute an important component of companies' assets with a value sometimes exceeding that of their financial assets.  
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, Al-Safir 11 June 2013

The Saint Joseph University organised a two days seminar in preparation to the launching of the employment and skills observatory which is being set up in collaboration and partnership with the Strasbourg University in France, the Lebanese University, Bassel Fuleihan finance and economy Institute, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Beirut and the Directorate General of Higher Education.
The observatory is part of the Tempus programme which is funded by the European Union and aims at improving professional orientation of young graduates as well as bridging the gap between supply and demand of the job market on the short and medium terms.  The observatory will seek to link academic education with the job market through orienting students towards needed specialties.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 10 June 2013