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The Women Branch of the Future Movement organized last week, in its offices in Beirut, a training workshop on the party’s vision for building the state and in relation to women’s right in political and public life. The coordinator of the Women Branch, Afifa al Sayyed, outlined the obstacles which limit women’s political participation namely legal obstacles and the absence of empowerment, political obstacles such as the absence of democracy and the predominant tribal and confessional mindset, poor participation of women in political parties and in other political structures.  Al Sayed also noted the economic obstacles such as poverty, high unemployment amongst women as well as obstacles that are specific to women such as their limited political experience and high illiteracy rates amongst women (including legal illiteracy).  She added that women’s political participation could be encouraged through working to change stereotypical roles and well as predominant mindsets as well as adopting positive discrimination such as the quota system.  The responsible of the cultural committee of the women’s branch, Mai Tabbal, lectured about the modern state and its main characteristics and elements.  She added that the vision of the Future Movement is based on the principle of a sovereign state free from any for of tutelage.  She also spoke about the history of the Lebanese state and the role of the Ta2ef agreement in ending the civil war.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 28 April 2014

The Daily Star published a report yesterday about programmes and activities targeting Syrians displaced to Lebanon with a special focus on the EU-funded Hay al-Sellom Youth Center run by Amel Association. The center offers training classes in various topics including English language, information technology and other.  Thus far, the centre has helped some 5,000 young men and women.  According to Amel's Director, Dr. Kamel Mehanna, the programme will allow beneficiaries to improve their livelihoods as well as contribute to rebuilding Syria once the conflict ends.  He added that the total two year budget of the centre is two million Euros donated by the European Union.
Source: The Daily Star 23 April 2014

Syrian refugee women in Lebanon are still subjected to sexual blackmail in return for assistance.  The Higher Relief Council as well as various political groups have severed relief funding originally allocated to a school director in Aley after complaints lodged by two Syrian women who accused him of requesting sexual favors in return for relief aid.  This happened two weeks after a report on the details of the sinister affair by As Safir newspaper on 27 January 2014.  Syrian children in the school were also moved to other schools in the area.

According to the details published about this affair, the school director sexually harassed a 35 year old Syrian cleaner in the school whom he did not pay her dues unless she concedes to giving him sexual favors along with her young sister in return for which he will help her in covering the cost of an operation for their father.  The woman in question refused to be sexually blackmailed and was able to secure medical help for her father from other sources.  The accused refused the charges against him.  However, political party representatives in the areas closed the school under the pretense that there is a problem with the educational curriculum it is following.  The UNHCR has however confirmed to As Safir that the school was closed and the children were moved to another facility based on the results of the internal investigation of the sexual harassment charges.  The investigation was carried out by UNHCR and the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Although many people and organizations were compelled to help the victim after the report was published in As Safir, however, the victim faced the usual challenge faced by all rape and harassment victims namely the difficulty of providing hard evidence which prevented her from suing the perpetrator in court.  Within the same vein, lawyer Mohana Ishak of Kafa noted that the issue of providing hard evidence prevents the majority of the victims of sexual exploitation from suing the harasser or rapist.  She added that usually, people tend to doubt the victim and not the perpetrator who can counter sue and be pronounced innocent.
Source: Al-Safir 22 April 2014

Lawyer and presidential candidate Nadine Mussa held a press conference yesterday to announce her presidential programme entitled “A radical change is due”.  The event was held at the Press Syndicate yesterday and was attended by an overwhelmingly women audience.  Mussa considered that it is high time for a radical change and for challenging the obstacles to citizens aspirations for a a free and modern state and for building a new Lebanon that is desired by all.  Mussa highlighted that her primary concern is to serve citizens and nation and not to align herself to outdated sectarian lines which are clients to external forces.  She added that Lebanon needs a quantum leap based on a revision of the social contract and a strengthening of laws and Constitution.
Moussa added that she has lost hope in the political elite which has not been able to build a state and has never tried to improve the livelihoods of the Lebanese without practicing any discrimination.  She noted that she aspires for political stability and social justice and dreams of a Lebanon which strengthens and respects women’s positions.  She also called for the independence of the judiciary, and for an end to corruption, free medical care, a pension plan for the elderly, compulsory public education system and contemporary public transportation.  Mussa said that she will seek to strengthen the army and provide it with modern equipment and will also work towards an equitable distribution of resources as well as building a decentralized and secular state.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Akhbar, The Daily Star 23 April 2014

The Minister of Social Affairs (MOSA) announced in a statement yesterday the launch of the temporary Food Card issued by the programme to support the poorest families in Lebanon.  The initiative will kick off in Tripoli (Bab el Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen) and will subsequently move to the remainder areas of Lebanon.  The card is available to Lebanese families classified as the poorest according to the classification method of the programme.  The announcement also stated that this card is the result of the collaboration between the Ministry, MOSA, UNHCR, the World Food Programme and other parties who expressed their interest in supporting this service. This temporary card provides each family member with 30$ a month (but not exceeding USD 150 per family) through a magnetic prepaid card which can only be used to purchase foodstuff from pre-designated 270 shops spread all over Lebanon. Distribution will begin in June through those MOSA community centers which are implementing the programme to support the poorest families in Lebanon.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 23 April 2014

L'Orient le Jour interviewed the first woman candidate to the Presidency, Nadine Mussa, who expressed her disappointment with the current political powers who give primacy to their own individual interests over those of citizens, saying that she will announce her political program in a press conference that will be held today at the press syndicate.
Mussa is a lawyer and a mother of two girls.  She is a human rights defender who worked in civil society organisations for more than ten years.  She added that she was not able to see the results of her efforts namely in terms of legal reforms such as the law to combat corruption, the right to information, e-governance, civil status code, pension scheme, health for all, and food safety as all the law petitions were met with dead ends. Mussa added that for a state to be able to work properly, it needs to have adequate and fair laws which reflect the principles enshrined in the Constitution.
Mussa adds that building a state which enjoys the rule of law and which secures social justice is one of the pillars of her political programme and her vision. She promised to work on combatting corruption and on ensuring good governance which are conditions sine qua none for the building of modern and fair state for all citizens.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 22 April 2014

At the time when Lebanese laws still deny women their basic rights as citizens, politicians continue to  support to women's rights in speeches they make during various political and social occasions but address these matters either partially or superficially while approaching women’s right in a partial or superficial manner and without giving due consideration to the fundamental principle of inclusive citizenship and full equality.
Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces leader presented his presidential programme yesterday where he highlighted his commitment to revising all laws affecting women’s rights or limiting their prospects for advancement, stating that "our commitment to women's rights is part of our commitment to human rights”. He also commended the growing public awareness and readiness to protect women when subjected to violence and discrimination.
Following the passing of the maimed law for the protection of women from domestic violence, the Minister of Interior and Municipalities Nihad Mashnook, discussed yesterday,with a delegation from Kaf, headed by Leila Awada, ways to uphold the role of security forces in the fight against domestic violence crimes, and the possibility of setting up all throughout Lebanon specialized centers for hostong and sheltering of women and children victims of domestic violence. Mashnook promised to follow up this matter with the Internal Security Forces and with other concerned institutions and associations.
Finally, and despite repeated failed attempts to incorporate women's quota in the electoral law, MP Robert Ghanem, expressed yesterday his support to this demand in a speech given during a conference  organized by Parliament in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation and entitled “Parliamentary Elections 2014 – Challenges and Opportunities”. For her part, Yara Nassar, the Executive Director of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), gave an overview of the state of Lebanese women in political life, stating that despite the absence of any legal restrictions preventing women from running for elections, social and political factors, and the resistance of the key political parties remain the biggest obstacles to women’s access to political leadership positions

Source: Al- Diyar, Al-Mustaqbal, The Daily Star 17 April 2014

Following the national conference on “Human Security, Freedom from Fear and Want” which was organized by the Lebanese Women’s Council in 24 and 25 February 2014, and which was covered by WEEPortal on 25/2/2014, the Council organized yesterday a workshop to draw mechanisms for implementing the recommendations of the Conference.  The event was held at the UNESCO palace under the auspices of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, represented by his wife, May Mikati.  The sessions discussed the concepts of human security and the obstacles facing freedom from fear and want.  Five sessions were organized and covered the topics of: the role of the media in influencing fear in public opinion, the future of the food basket, development and civil peace, opportunities for interventions within a situation of poverty and demobilization, public education, and women’s rights in conflict situations.

Once again, the recommendation of the workshop focused on “demanding that the media exercise self censorship through refraining from disseminating material calling for hate and work towards building a public opinion that is immune to the fear tactics of politicians and which can only lead to civil strife”.  New recommendations focused on promoting the use of social media to serve civil peace especially in relation to furthering awareness on who the real enemy is and what are the real risks and dangers.  The recommendations also included a call on relevant Ministries to ensure a safe environment that is conducive for child development and education away from fear and in collaboration with the family and with educational institutions and also strengthening civic education and finding mechanisms for protecting children from violence and from all forms of aggression.  In addition the workshop called for developing human resources with expertise in education and psychology to help resolve children’s psychological and educational problems at school in addition to a permanent coordination with schools and parents in order to strengthen good habits and rightful values.
Source: NNA, Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar 16 April 2014

For more information about the national conference, please refer to the previously published news on the WEEPortal;
Conference of the Lebanese Council for Women entitled: “Human security: freedom from fear and need”, on 25/2/2014
The Lebanese Women’s Council’s Conference on “Human Security: Freedom from Fear and Need” concludes with many recommendations, on 11/3/2014

The NGO Committee to follow-up on women’s issues launched last week the fourth parallel CEDAW report which addresses the implementation of CEDAW.  The launch took place during a press conference held by the organization at the Press Syndicate.  The report which was prepared by the organization with financial support from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, mentions 18 recommendations related to policies and mechanisms that ought to be adopted in order to improve the status of women in Lebanon namely: lifting all reservations on CEDAW, abolishing all forms of discrimination in the nationality law, adopting a civil family code, endorsing the law to protect women from violence, reforming the penal code namely the articles that discriminate against women, endorsing the ILO conventions, enacting a law to protect migrant and refugee women and abolishing trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The Presiding of the organization, Fahmieh Charafeddine, presented the report and noted that it is based on progress made since 2008 and that its preparation was in collaboration with civil society. The report looks closely at advances since then especially at the legislative and executive levels and underlines the struggle of women and civil movements for equality.  She added that the report also looks at areas requiring improvement and intervention by state and non-state actors and which should be discussed by the CEDAW committee.

To access the full report, please go to the following link.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, 14 April 2014

The Progressive Women Union and the Organisation of Progressive Youth organized yesterday a discussion session entitled: “Violence, discrimination against women and religious family laws” at the premises of the Progressive Socialist Party in Beirut.  The event was attended by the PWU president, Wafa Abed and the Director of the Arab Institute for Human Rights, Joumana Merhi.  The latter spoke about various aspects domestic violence and violence against women and particularly those caused by religious family laws.  She emphasized the important role that political parties can play in promoting the rights of women and the in demanding the adoption of a unified civil family law. Marwa Abi Farraj of the Organisation of Progressive Youth spoke of the insights and perspectives of young people towards social, economic and political roles of women especially in Arab countries that have witnessed revolts.
Source: Al-Safir 11 April 2014