Other news

Women and civil society organisations in Tripoli issued a statement denouncing a six months prison sentence issued by a local judge and ordering a mother to be jailed because her 13 year old daughter refused to meet her father although the mother was perfectly willing to accompany her daughter to the encounter.
The above mentioned organisations asked that the mother not be penalised because of the reaction of her daughter and to withhold the prison sentence until after the judicial summer leave. They stressed that the current law does not penalise such cases, insisting that the International Human Rights, and Child Rights Conventions, both ratified by Lebanon, be upheld.
The organisations signatory to the statement are the following: The Lebanese Council To Resist Violence Against Women – lecorvaw, The youth Parliament, Shabab el Balad, Together Association, Al Wifak El-Sakifia Association, The Public Committee of the North Unit, Araa2 wa Afkaar – Tripoli group, Afak Social and Welfare Association, Mouwatana for Monitoring and Development, Abdullah Hazem Darwich Welfare Association: Ihda2, Child Welfare Association, Working Women League in Lebanon – North branch, Humanities and Sciences Association, Ward, Feminist Work Association, Progressive women's association, Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 5 August 2013

NCLW signed last week a Memorandum of Understanding with Cedar Friends for the planting of a new cedar forest.  NCLW was represented by Fady Karam whilst Cedar Friends was represented by its president Riyad Keyrouz and Bassam Geagea.  According to the MoU, the reforestation will be done on the basis of sponsorship and will; include the plating of 1000 cedar trees in lot number 6932 and over a surface area of 30000 m2.
The implementation of this MoU has already started and the planting of the trees is expected to be completed in the fall of 2015.  The Cedar Friends will be fully responsible for maintaining and fencing the new forest over a period of nine years.
Source: Al-Diyar 27 July 2013

Finally, the joint parliamentary committees passed yesterday, Monday July 22, 2013 the proposed legislative bill for protection of women from domestic violence, following long and protracted past deliberations and discussions. However, the approved new version carries somewhat a different title with the original ‘Protection of women from domestic violence’ being replaced by ‘Protection of women and all family members from domestic violence’. This new modification triggered several reactions and expressions of discontent particularly from some of the women organisations that have been militating to achieve this women’s right, especially so since this modification entails a significant alteration of the purpose off the draft law and consequently possibly could undermine the effectiveness of the law in protecting women from domestic violence.
Concurrent with the convening of the parliamentary session, women and men activists from civil society organizations held a sit-in, in response to a call from KAFA (Enough) violence and exploitation, at Riad el Solh Square, with the purpose of putting additional pressures on the legislators. After the passing of the bill, the ‘National Coalition to Legislate the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence’, commented on the introduced modifications considering it of a cosmetic nature. The Coalition also clarified that that the next step is to call on the Head of Parliament, Mr. Nabih Berri, to ensure that the draft bill is discussed during the first upcoming plenary session of Parliament. The Coalition will be working towards passing the law according to its original purpose: i.e. the protection of women.  Nadine Moawad, an activist in ‘Nasawiya’, indicated that ‘the real achievement lies in the end content of the law and not its transition within the legislative process. Furthermore, the festive mood was absent from the declaration of the President of the Civil Committee for Follow-up of Women’s Issues, Fahmieh Sharafeddeen, who, though acknowledging that the passing of the law is a step forward, said that “what is required is a law to protect women and not a family law,” She stressed that her organisation will work diligently to further modify and develop the current draft law.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Akhbar, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar 23 July 2013

Cardiac health tests for women were conducted over two days at the Beirut City Center in collaboration with the Bellevue University Medical Center, as part of a campaign entitled ‘Go Red for Women’ that was carried out by Majed Al Futaym Real Estate Companies. Accordingly, tests related to cardiovascular disease were performed for hundreds of women and included testing for blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. Furthermore, and as part of the campaign, women were provided with consultation on fitness, and other preventive measures.
Dr. Ghassan Kiwan, Chief of Cardiology and Director of the American Heart Association training center at Bellevue Medical Center, emphasised the importance of the campaign, particularly so since statistics indicate that the rate of mortality from stroke and cardiovascular diseases is three times higher for women than for men and that more than two thirds of women who died from a heart attack had no knowledge of contracting the illness.
Source: Al Mustaqbal 18 July 2013)

The Lebanese Women’s Council convened a press conference yesterday in its headquarters conference to condemn the recent terrorist explosions, to warn against civil strife and to review the situation of women in this context. During the press conference, the president of the Council Jamal Hermez Gabril warned against those who aim to revive civil strife and conflict among the Lebanese. Furthermore, Gabril pointed out to the twofold suffering of women from violence; on one level, women directly suffer from armed violence but also from domestic violence too. She referred to the recent case of Rula Yaa3cub who died after intense beating perpetrated by her husband, pointing out that there are thousands of other women who are victims of violence and remain unknown. She demanded that Parliament adopts the draft law for the protection of women from domestic violence while directly addressing members of Parliament by saying: “You are not just incapable of protecting women from domestic violence, you are also accomplices.” In conclusion, Gabril announced that 7th of July, the day of Yaa3cub’s murder, will from now on be commemorated as a national day for women victims of domestic violence.
In the same vain, MP 3atef Majdalani denounced the murder of Rula Yaa3cub, stating in a communiqué that this type of crime is not the first and would not be the last as long as no legislation is adopted to protect women , and hold accountable and punish perpetrators.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al Mustaqbal 16 July 2013

The eleventh annual report on Arab NGOs was launched yesterday at Amel main office in Mussaytbeh in the presence of representatives of various NGOs and media people. The annual report is the outcome of collaboration between the Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network, Dr. Amani Qandil, who supervised its production and Amel International Association which prepared the Lebanon’s section entitled ‘Role of Civil Society Organizations in Addressing Risks Faced by Families in Lebanon : Empowerment for the purpose of Fortification’ under the supervision of Drs. Kamel Mohanna and Mustafa Hijazi.
Hijazi and Mohanna noted that the study the country developed around a central pole and against a background of marginalization of wide sectors of the population and huge risks faced by middle and popular class families. The social situation is largely characterized by family dysfunction that has a clear negative effect on women (more than on men) and thus affecting the health and development of the entire family. The study also indicated that the proportion of NGOs focusing their services on the family, women, youth and children represent 100 percent (i.e. all of the surveyed NGOs), those focusing on elderly (40%), on persons with disability (50%), on divorced women and widows (50%) while all associations (100 percent) provided health services and preventive programs.
In conclusion, Dr. Mohanna pointed out to the main risks faced by society from the NGO perspective namely: drug addiction (90%), exclusion of of women from public participation (30%), unemployment and livelihood problems (100%), youth unemployment (60%), security (80%), sectarian polarization (90%), housing of families and youth (70%).
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 12 July 2013

The Collective for Research and Training on Development – Action and the Women Learning Partnership, organized an interactive seminar with Mr. Saul Ortega, the head of the delegation of Venezuelan Parliamentarians visiting Lebanon with the participation of Venezuelan Ambassador to Lebanon, Ms. Suad Karam.  The seminar sought to share the Venezuelan experience in drafting the Constitution and ensuring that the constitution is explicit in its upholding and protection of Gender Equality and social justice.  The key idea was to draw lessons and inspirations to feed into current processes of constitutional reforms in the Arab region.
The event was organized at the Social Sciences Campus of the Saint Joseph University and brought together a diverse group of some 60 participants from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan,  Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen who shared their own experiences in constitutional reforms.
To be noted that the seminar was held within the framework of the WLP Global Training of Trainers workshop which was held from 3 to 7 July and focused on developing leadership skills as well as promoting women’s political participation.  The workshop highlighted the importance of adopting civil constitutions which guarantee equal rights to women and men, as well as to minorities while fully embracing human rights and freedom of belief.  The drawing of such constitutions ought to include the setting of transparent, accountable and efficient institutional mechanisms for implementation.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 9 July 2013

The third stage of the Lebanese Excellence Award was launched yesterday during an event convened in the Adnan Kassar Building for Arab Economy under the auspices of the Minister of Economy and Trade, Nicolas Nahhas, representing the president of the Republic, General Michel Suleiman.

This award was set up by both the Ministry of State for Administrative Reform and the Ministry of Economy and Trade with the purpose of providing opportunities to organisations and public institutions, private sector companies, small and medium enterprises and CSOs to appreciate efforts exerted in improving administrative and management systems.

This third phase focuses on updating the Lebanese system for quality management and includes small, medium and large enterprises as well as civil society organizations.  The award includes three levels namely the Excellence Certificate targeting companies that have started their journeys towards excellence.  The subsequent Advanced Certificate is dedicated to companies that have made headways in their commitment to excellence whilst the Lebanese Excellence Award is dedicated to those companies that have completed the requirements of the Lebanese Excellence Award.

The UN Ambassador to Lebanon noted in her speech during the event that this award highlights the importance that civil society, women and men play in remote places by providing assistance to the most vulnerable communities.  She added that these people deserve to be recognized as important actors in strengthening the Lebanese society.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Safir, Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar