The minister of state for administrative development, Dr. Inaya Ezzedine, sponsored on Friday a graduation ceremony for women who completed training sessions on the ‘safety of food processing’. The activity comes as part of ‘Enhancing the economic situation of Lebanese women in the South’ project implemented by the Lebanon Family Planning Association for Development & Family Empowerment (LFPADE) funded by UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality. Ezzedine underlined on the occasion the significance of women’s empowerment at the moment, pointing out that today’s event brings together essential components leading to empowerment. “We are amidst an evolving training process targeting women aimed to improve their economic status in the area of food processing safety,” the minister said. This means involvement in a sustainable development process seeking, among its prime goals, to expand choices for men and women and offer them equal opportunities, particularly at the economic level so as to ensure the participation of economically-empowered females in making development-related decisions, the minister added. Ezzedine stressed her commitment to the developmental and supportive role of the State which she said “we want to see as the anchor for all its citizens”. On the other hand, prime minister Saad Hariri said in a tweet that, out of his commitment to human rights causes, primarily women, he pledges to put into effect all the country’s international obligations. This includes as he said, combating violence against women, and issuing a decree enforcing and financing the formation of an independent national human rights commission, consisting of a committee for the prevention of torture. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, December 9, 11, 2017)