Your Right is the Guarantee for your Family Campaign meets women of political parties to promote gender equality in social security

 As part of its awareness activities, ‘Your Right is the Guarantee for Your Family’ Campaign is targeting the Parliament in order to bring about the amendment of discriminatory provisions in the Social Security Law. To this effect, Campaign activists met with women committees within the Lebanese political parties in order to achieve its goal. During the meeting, lawyer and head of the Lebanese Forces’ women team, Maya Zighrini, stressed the need for modification of such laws because “women are only asking for what is their fundamental right”, adding that she will submit the proposed amendments to the party’s central council and to its president in order enlist their support. Fatmeh Itani from the Jamaa Islamiyeh maintained that “as everything is related to politics, we cannot bring about the desired change should we stand alone.” For her part, Al Marada coordinator of women’s committees, Mirna Zakharia, voiced her reservations on Article 47 related to family and educational benefits and sough further clarifications from representatives of the Campaign. However, she underscored the vital role of political parties in achieving the desired objectives. Nawal Mdalali, from Future Movement’s Women’s Sector, noted that Lebanon is a sectarian state and therefore change, particularly in the Social Security law, has to emerge from political parties, noting that her party supports any just cause particularly that related to women.

(An-Nahar, December 15, 2015)