Lebanon Business and Professional Women’s Club to promote economic role of women

The first regional conference of the Lebanon Business and Professional Women’s Club was held yesterday in Byblos, under the title ‘Together for economic development’ in the presence of the minister of trade and economy, Alain Hakim. On the occasion, Hakim stressed the role of the Lebanese and Arab women in the world of business for achieving a sustainable development of societies. He pressed the need to draw a strategic economic roadmap for entrepreneurship which covers legal, constitutional and administrative aspects, with the aim to activate and promote the role of women in business and economy. Similarly, the chair of the Council of Arab Businesswomen and ambassador of the Arab Region to International Associations, Dr. Hossa Saad Abdallah Salem al Sabah, advised the introduction of certain measures at the level of governments, local authorities and non-government organizations that would contribute to the empowerment and enhancement of women’s capacities in economic activity, including their participation in planning and development. Some of these measures include 1) improving economic opportunities available for the rural women through removal of all the legal, social, cultural and educational obstacles; 2) supporting the role of women in social upbringing within the family, with special national emphasis on the work of committed housewives; 3) enhancing women’s participation at the public, political and development levels; 4) advocating the work of women as a fundamental right and as a main condition for achieving sustainable development; 5) developing and enacting laws and regulations which guarantee gender equality at the workplace, equality in appointment and recruitment, wages, training and capacity building, and finally, 6) activating and forming women committees inside the professional syndicates and leagues to create better prospects for women’s participation in the labor market. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, October 19, 2016)