Arab Women Forum criticizes patriarchal society, discriminatory laws against women

The Arab Women Forum for Entrepreneurs opened yesterday under the ‘Empowering a new generation of Arab Women Entrepreneurs’ with some 300 participants coming from Lebanon and Arab and foreign states. The event which was organized jointly by Al Hasnaa Magazine and Al Iktisad Wal Aamal Group discussed methods of empowerment of women through innovation and entrepreneurship. On the occasion, the President of BLC Bank, Maurice Sahnawi, drew attention to the obstacles facing women entrepreneurs in countries that do not observe gender equality, an essential component for the development of any society and for the prosperity and advancement of its domestic economy. Similarly, the Lebanese Culture Minister, Roni Arayji, underlined the importance of the forum as a  source for sustainable motivation for women entrepreneurs in the Arab World. He praised the role of Lebanese women who, he said, proved their efficiency in the private sector and the various professions, and especially in the public sector. The only setback, Arayji maintained, is however in “women’s political participation, at the of municipal and parliamentary levels, and this, he noted, is a result of the patriarchal society or lack of desire on part of women.” The manager at Deloitte Middle East, Rana Salhab, focused in her intervention on the discriminatory laws against women that impede their progress and evolution. While admitting the low rate of women’s participation in the entrepreneurship sector, barely 26%, Salhab applauded their noteworthy contribution to the private sector, noting a relative parity in the recruitment of women in relation to their men counterparts. Salhab urged the entrepreneurship support campaigns to focus more on the target of attaining decision making positions in corporate boards, where apparently women's presence is shy, as she put it. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, As Safir, May 12, 2016)