News updates

L’Orient Le Jour news paper conducted an interview with two Lebanese women entrepreneurs – Hind Hobeika and Talin Assi who presented an overview of their journeys in the field of business which lifted them to high ranking positions in world markets.
Hind Hobeika is a mechanical engineer, an alumna of the American University of Beirut. She designed ‘Instabeat’, a small device that is added to the goggles used by swimmers to register their pulse during swimming with the aim of improving their performance. Hobeika thanked the reality TV show of Qatar Institute ‘Stars of Sciences’ that assisted her in developing her prototype. Hind was the only woman who reached the finals of TV contest thus occupying the third position and gaining an award of USD 100 thousand.  To continue her journey, Hind launched a fundraiser on Indiegogo which is an international website that supports innovations in business and economics through which she was able to raise USD 60 thousand.
As for Talin Assi, she is one of the pioneering women entrepreneurs who launched the concept of e-commerce in Lebanon. In 2003, Talin designed the website ‘Mosaic Marble’ with a capital of USD 1000. The website which is an e-store to sell mosaic, is available now in 13 languages and employs 10 persons and 48 craftsmen/women, and has succeeded in generating USD 205 millions in funds. Talin declared during the interview that her ambition remains to reach the second place worldwide in mosaic production.

Source: L’Orient Le Jour 30 May 2013)

The employment office at Notre Dame University – Louaize organised yesterday its annual Job Fair 2013 with the participation of more than 30 companies from the commerce, tourism, and banking sectors.  In his opening speech the president of the University, Father Walid Moussa, indicated that there is a need to extend efforts in order to overcome three obstacles that the Lebanese, and especially the youth, face namely: ignorance, immigration and despair.

Source: Al-Nahar 31 May 2013

The Modern University for Business and Science (MUBS) organised yesterday its 2013 job fair at the university campus in Hamra with the participation of around 40 companies including banks, advertising agencies, food industries, restaurants, media, education, tourism, travel and ICT.  The Fair was heavily visited by students and graduates from all of MUBS campuses including: Damour, Aley, Baakline, and Hamra.  Visitors perused brochures and information material and completed employment questionnaire with the hope of finding jobs following graduation.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar  31 May 2013

On the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day in the field of Information Technology and Communication’ CISCO Systems hosted an initiative, as part of its social responsibility, and aiming towards strengthening the future vision of women in Lebanon. Within that framework, CISCO is offering professional training to prepare women students to become full active members of the labor force through the development of their ICT skills.
Thus and in commemoration of the international day, 16 young 11th grade women students from the International College (IC) were invited to visit the company’s offices in Casablanca – Morocco and to spend one day with the local leaders of CISCO, so as to enable women students to acquire better knowledge of future opportunities provided by the ICT sector. (Al- Diyar, National News Agency 29 May 2013)

The outgoing Minister of Social Affairs launched last week in Rashaya the IT literacy centre which will aim at contributing to the creation of new work opportunities in that rural areas.  The event was held under the auspices of the Ministry and in collaboration with the local union of municipalities which hosted the event and the Lebanese Association for Rural Development.  The setting up of this IT center comes within the framework of the national programme for adult education which is managed by Nehmat Geagea who indicated that IT advances now require more knowledge and familiarity with the technology.  Minister Abou Faour noted the speed with which the programme was implemented so that it is able to provide work opportunities in remote areas. The training centre will also aim at encouraging work and employment at home.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

YWCA celebrated last week the graduation of 16 women and men students who completed an extensive training in domestic health care and organised at the YWCA premises in Ain Mreisseh. The training workshop extended over 3 months and entitles graduates to take care of elderly as well as infants.  The workshop was implemented with the support of Ajialoona, the EPY Educating Palestinian Youth and Moosawat association. The head of the YWCA, Aida Naaman Abdelsamad emphasized in her keynote address the importance of empowering young women and men with skills and with a trade so that they are able to find work that can secure a decent income.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

L’Orient le Jour interviewed Juliana Najem, the director of IMS (Institute of Management & Services) which is part of the PRODES (Promotion et Development Social) association that seeks to strengthen social development in Lebanon through supporting women work in the area of rural tourism as well as in setting up social, developmental, cultural and touristic projects in all areas of Lebanon.
Najem noted that the purpose of setting up IMS in 2004 was to provide vocational training in business and rural tourism as well as to help women students in implementing their projects and linking them with tourism companies, civil society organisations, and municipalities.  She added that the project allowed some 600 women to take part in training workshops.  In addition, 30 women with small enterprises were able to consult with expert so as to improve their skills and the quality of their products.
Finally, Najem concluded by saying that the main aim of IMS and PRODES is to support rural families in generating income and maintain rural traditions, adding that the two organisations have also helped in the setting up the “network of Lebanese women in rural areas” in order to strengthen exchanges and communication amongst women.

Source: L’Orient Le Jour 23 May 2013

The ILO organised last Friday May 17th , a round table discussion on ways to address the recurrent problems facing migrant workers especially in relation to trafficking, exploitation, illegal recruitment, low wages and inhumane working conditions. The round table also focused on ways to enforce laws and conventions ratified by the Lebanese state and how to raise migrant workers’ awareness about their rights.  The Deputy Regional Director/DWT Director Mr. Frank Hagemann participated in this event which was organized within the framework of the Action Programme for Protecting the Rights of Women Migrant Domestic Workers and which is funded by the EU ane the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and which was attended by diplomatic representations of the Egyptian, Sudanese, Philippine and Indonesian embassies, and representatives from the media and human rights organizations.

Hagemann pointed out to the fact that the ILO presented to Lebanon a law proposal which, if endorsed will contribute to protecting the rights of women migrant domestic workers and regulating employment through employment offices in order to ensure transparency and fairness to both employees and employers.

The National Project Coordinator of the Action Programme for Protecting the Rights of Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon noted that the embassies who took part in this event agreed to sharing information with the ILO on complaints originating from migrant workers which she noted will shed more lights on this problem.

Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Mustaqbal 18 May 2013

The Daily Star newspaper published a report on the recently inaugurated Agro Food Development Center and Laboratories at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Saida. According to Joelle Ojeil, the technical manager of the AFCDL, the centre hosts two types of laboratories namely a micro-biological foods laboratory that provides tests for agricultural products and baked goods, and a laboratory equipped to examine the physical and chemical properties of food products. These tests are requested either by the Consumer Protection Department or from company owners who wish to examine their own products or are in the product development process, according to Ojeil.
In addition, AFDCL hosts a fully equipped pilot plant set up with the financial support of USAID.  The plant is available for lease by beneficiaries seeking to develop new products as well as to experiment new processes, products and equipment.
AFDCL had recently earned the ISO (International Standard Operation) 17025 certification and is also certified by the Ministry of Economy and Trade t receive items for testing from consumer safety departments in Nabatieh and Saida, thus decentralizing food quality management services, most of which are located in the capital.
Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/May-16/217267-new-lab-seeks-to-improve-food-quality-in-the-south.ashx#ixzz2TR5PIUt5">The Daily Star 16 May 2013