Shabtini in favor of an UN initiative to prioritise women refugees

The minister of the displaced, Alice Shabtini, stressed the need for meetings that promote the social status of women and secure better environment for the development of their capacities. Shabtini was speaking during the Second Regional Forum for Social Responsibility 2016 organized between October 3-4 by the Arab Women’s Council. The Lebanese minister called for easing restrictions on women laid by outdated regimes and patriarchal mindsets seeking to prevent their emancipation. Shabtini also chaired a dialogue session entitled ‘support for and provision of the basic needs of women refugees and their rehabilitation to participate in reconstruction of devastated areas’, where she stressed the need to launch a UN program to this effect. Recalling the intense Lebanese experience in this context, Shabtini lauded the work of the ministry of the displaced which succeeded in the return of the internally-displaced Lebanese people to their land in the post-civil war era. “We are available and willing to extend our experience as a model to be replicated in the different countries in the region which host refugees, particularly, those coming from Syria,” Shabtini concluded.  (Al Mustaqbal, October 6, 2016)