“Innovative Approach to Enter the Job Market”: A field study of working women in Saida || Newspapers (Arabic)

Last Thursday, October 11 the Gathering of Civil Societies in Saida, and the Palestinian Women Forum jointly launched the Mawared professional training center for women located in Saida (refer to WEEPortal news of 12 October 2012). Following the launching of the center, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried an article that shed some lights on the results of the field study entitled, “Innovative Ways to Enter the Job Market” in Saida which was carried out in preparation for the project. The study indicated that 23% of women work in the field of services and commerce while 12% can be found in administrative-related posts and another 12% in smaller jobs. The study also showed that the largest proportion of women works in the health sector and 36% of them in the NGO sector. The study further noted that only a small proportion of Palestinian women workers despite the fact that Saida hosts the largest Palestinian camps in Lebanon in addition to hundreds of Palestinian families living within the city.  As for one reason for that, the study revealed that 30% of business owners consider being a Lebanese national an important factor for employment while 56% said that nationality does not matter. 

The study also indicated that in terms of job opportunities for women, home caring, secretarial works, and industrial sewing are on top of the list. As for women job seekers, their priorities reside in achieving independence and social progress. Women added that favoritism, discrimination based on gender, nationality, religious background, veil wearing, the objection of parents and husband, and poor skills are all key reasons preventing them from getting a job. 

It is worth mentioning that the study covered 47 institutions of Saida and surveyed 78 Lebanese, Palestinian, and Iraqi women living in that city.

Source: Al-Akhbar 19 October 2012