From rhetoric to action for implementation of women’s rights

The minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, opened yesterday at Beirut-based ESCWA House a conference entitled, ‘women’s work: towards gender-sensitive public policies”, organized by his ministry, in cooperation with the UN Information Center in Beirut (UNIC) and SMART Center for Media and Advocacy. In his address, Ogassapian clarified the purpose of the decision to declare a special day for women, which is to carry out the government’s commitment towards rights of women. He said the idea of the annual celebration rallies around the creation of a pressure movement across all arenas in Lebanon, including the staging of sit-ins and demonstrations to the end of stimulating society as a whole to participate in achieving those rights. This, he explained, involves realizing women’s presence in political life and within institutions, because of the anticipated positive outcomes, mainly gender mainstreaming and increasing national productivity. The minister indicated that he will ask the Council of Ministers to change the date of the ‘Lebanese Women’s Day’ from November 4th  as previously decided to March 8th , so as to coincide with International Women’s Day. In conclusion, Ogassapian pressed the need to move from discourse to the realization of women’s rights in order to create a momentum that can enforce demands, and persuade politicians and parties to believe in, and, use or benefit from the resources Lebanese women boast. (Al Mustaqbal, May 24, 2017)

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