Other news

The Lebanese Electoral Assistance Project (LEAP) affiliated to the UNDP organized yesterday a workshop on “Electoral Laws and Women’s Participation”.  The workshop which was attended by a number of women who have presented their candidacy to the next parliamentary elections and representatives of local and international civil society organizations, discussed ways to strengthen women’s participation in political life.
The UNDP Country Director Mr. Luca Renda, emphasized that supporting national efforts for strengthening a comprehensive political process as well as strengthening women’s participation in elections is a key concern on the agenda of the United Nations.  He noted that women’s political participation in Lebanon is limited and does not exceed 3% in parliament as the 2009 elections only resulted in bringing in four women parliamentarians.  This is particularly alarming since globally, women’s representation in parliaments has increased two fold since the year 2000.
On the other hand, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities Elias Khoury noted that a higher number of women submitted their candidacy this year in anticipation of the next parliamentary elections.  According to him, this is proof of increasing awareness amongst Lebanese women on the importance of taking initiative sand resorting to live in the shadow of men as well as seeking to contribute to the nation and to society
The workshop, which was funded by the European Union, included an address by The Political Affairs Officer at UNSCOL Chantal Sarkis, who pointed out to the low global status of Lebanon having recoded a 135th ranking in terms of women’s participation in political life.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Akhbar, Al-Nahar 4 July 2013

UNHCR’s latest weekly report on Syrian refugees in Lebanon indicated an increase in the number of marriages of girls between 15 and 17 years of age.  These have been forced to stop working by their new husbands.  According to the testimony of Ared el Insan  Association to the UNHCR last June, 380 Syrian women and girls who are either survivor of violence or at risk, have visited the centres of the organization to receive psycho social support.  In addition, more than 150 adolescent girls and women have received hygiene kits during the month of June and as part of the women protection programme.  These kits help in providing some protection to women as they include torches and whistles to be used by young women walking alone in the dark and so that they can call for help if needed.  The kits also include supplies that allow women to move around safely.
The report further indicates that the total number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon now exceeds 568,000 people of whom 485,000 persons are registered and the rest awaiting registration.  The registered refugees are spread as follows: 174189 North of Lebanon, 164712 Bekaa, 86352 Beirut and Mount Lebanon, 59914 South of Lebanon.
Source: Al-Nahar 1 July 2013

As Safir newspaper published an article about the municipality of Deir Kanoon which decided to create a space for women of the town to engage in development and social work.  The town set up a shadow municipal council composed of ten local women with a mandate to monitor the performance of the elected council composed of 15 men and to contribute in identifying and setting local community priorities.  The report further added that generally women’s participation in municipal councils in the Caza of Tyre is very limited with more than 60 municipalities while women comprise 50% of the electors.
The shadow council is headed by activist Lubna Ezzedine who noted that politically women used to be active only as individuals and thus, with minimum local impact.  However, and since early 2013, the municipality has created this space for a larger and more organised women participation in politics regardless of any engagement with political parties.
The work of the shadow women council targets, according to the report, the women population in large and seeks to implement a number of activities aiming at empowering women and encouraging them to partake in social, civil and development work.
Source: Al-Safir 22 June 2013

The Lebanese Association of University Women LAUW held its annual celebration which included a creativity contest last week under the auspices of the Beirut Municipality and with the participation of ex-Minister Mona Ofeish and the presence of Elie Wakim, Head of “Hanna Wakim Foundation”, and Khalil Broumana representing Beirut Municipality.  
The event was held at the UNESCO palace and hosted 15 private and public schools of which 7 received prizes for achievements in theater, dancing, singing, audio-visuals and arts.  Winners were handed their prizes by the president of the association, Ms. Ilham Kallab.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 22 June 2013

The women section of the Future Movement organizes last week a seminar in women’s quota as a tool to strengthen women’s participation in political life.  The seminar included a lecture by Fahmiah Charafeddine the President of The National Committee for the Follow up of Women's Issues CFUWI, who indicated that in principle, women’s political participation does not raise any objections but is difficult to implement.  This is illustrated in women’s participation in parliament which does not much exceed 3% and is one of the lowest worldwide.  She added that the best solution is the adoption of a women’s quota of 33.33% which is a temporary and technical measure aiming at bridging the gender gap in public and political life.  
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 22 June 2013

Ugarite Helou, a political scientist from the Lebanese University, and Statistician Marwan Houri, presented yesterday the results of a field study they implement to assess the experience of women who engaged in municipal work.  The study was carried out by the Lebanese Family Planning Association in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and covered 224 women (out of a total of some 500 women) who won in the 2009 municipal elections and belonging to different regions, confessions and socio-economic categories.

According to the results, 90% of the interviewees indicated that the reason for presenting themselves was to serve their localities while 42.40% indicated that they wished to protect their religious communities. The support of family and spouse was critical for 90% of the interviewees whereas 12% of candidates with children indicated that they were faced by the objection of their in-laws against 8.3% of candidates who have no children.  Furthermore, 6.3% noted that they faced resistance by political parties most of whom were married with children. Moreover, only 3.5% of women candidates indicated that they received support from civil society organisations and only 1.6% indicated that they received support from other women.

The study also noted that factors that have facilitated women’s municipal engagement include their social networks (94% of informants).  However, the study did not explain what is meant by social networks and whether this referred to political or confessional allegiance or any other.  Some 84.80% of women indicated that they did not face major financial challenges.  The study however did not clarify the socio-economic profile of informants and the correlation between their economic independence and their ability to run for municipal elections.  Most informants (958%) indicated that the dominant patriarchal culture did not constitute an obstacle toward their engagement.  They also noted that the control of the municipal president, absence of democratic practices as well as the poor representation of women and the trend of not taking women seriously did not constitute any major obstacle or hindered their participation within the municipal council although the awareness of such factors was higher amongst the younger and more educated category of informants.
The limitations of the study were also underlined as the researchers indicated the need for further qualitative data through interviews and focus groups.  The researchers also concluded that women tend to reproduce the culture they try to challenge.

Source: Al-Safir 21 June 2013