Modest IWD celebrations in the absence of a strong women movement

As customary on IWD every year, women groups celebrated the occasion with increased activities which included conferences, launch of studies and reports, public events, sit in and marches, in an attempt to highlight the important role of women in society as well as the persistent discrimination against them.  This year, the celebration IWD is taking place amidst a noticeable vacuum at the level of social and women movements, high security, political, and livelihood pressures and in the absence of any indication of a possible breakthrough on either of these fronts.  These factors, as well as the rather limited transformatory vision of the feminist struggle in the country resulted in modest activities which raised a redundancy of demands focusing on the need for legal reforms and on enhancing political, social and economic opportunities for women. For more highlights about IWD selected celebration events that took place during the last two days, please check: http://www.weeportal-lb.org/news/modest-activities-celebrate-iwd