Unemployment among Lebanese women reaches 35%, new special funds needed to support women entrepreneurship

The president of the Lebanese Businesspeople Association (RDCL), Fuad Zamakhal, acknowledged that unemployment among women in Lebanon is excessively high, almost touching on 35%, which is quite an alarming situation. Zamakhal who was speaking at the French Senate in Paris where he lectured on ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship: Regulations, Assets and Opportunities’ called for further employment of women (part time or full time) in various enterprises and for supporting women entrepreneurs. He said: “We have the responsibility to encourage women to further invest after boosting their capacities and potentials, especially while promoting the setting up of small, medium or micro enterprises which can boost the national economy.” He also called for the setting up of special funds to support new entrepreneurship initiatives and to provide small loans targeting women, while stating that investment amounts needed for such projects are often meagre, but could produce outstanding outcomes, as he put it. (As Safir, An Nahar, Al Diyar, November 24, 2015)