The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) organized a dialogue meeting on “Enhancing the Role of Women in Society”, in cooperation with the Women’s Platform to Lead (WPL). The event was attended by a delegation from the German Foreign Ministry, the German Embassy in Lebanon, the GIZ Working Group, and the LEAD project participants.
The meeting started with the Lebanese and German anthems, followed by a welcome speech from the founder of LOST, Dr. Rami Lakkis, who stated, “for four years, we have presented a discussion on enhancing the role of women, and there we were wrong because we were thinking about women only. So, the first thing we learned in order to achieve a society based on citizenship equality and participation, was to abandon the stereotypical classification of our issues, and to consider every human being and every individual, man or woman, to be an active and productive citizen with the right and responsibility in the service of society”. Dr. Lakkis added, “to achieve this requirement, we shared several projects with GIZ until we were able to establish a forum for women in Baalbeck-Hermel, which we expect and hope to be the first step towards building a civil society. We need a civil society to rid ourselves of the sectarian, regional, and gender differences. We also believe that civil society has the ability to bring people out of their tribes and conflicts”.
In her turn, Ms. Nada Wahoud spoke about the project’s stages and results, emphasizing the psychological impact it had on women, and the confidence it gave them to make a difference. This was the result of the implementation of 14 community projects all over Baalbeck-Hermel.
Hanadi Al-Rashaeiny, a participant in WPL, and a member of the constituent assembly said, “based on the fifth goal of sustainable development for gender equality, I would like to share my personal experience in this project, which targets 320 women from 14 different regions and ideas. All of these women gathered and united their efforts in order to develop our society and our region. All you see today is not a coincidence, but the fruit of the hard work of eight months of meetings and workshops”.
Hanadi also described the practical path taken by the women, and the stages they have set up to establish the “Women’s Platform to Lead”. Moreover, she announced the objectives, vision, and mission of the platform and its role in defending human rights and promoting development in society. Hanadi presented the strategy of the forum for the next two years, and pointed to the need to achieve sustainability of the assembly through various activities and communication with all parties.
In turn, the Director General of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mrs. Claudia Farning, expressed her admiration for the results achieved by women through projects supported by the German government, stating, “we are keen to develop the capabilities of women in the economic, social, and political fields and consider their capabilities as an investment project in development. Women’s work is a global debate and not limited to a specific region, and it is well known that the United Nations adopted this project to improve and enhance its role in the world. However, despite the efforts, we continue to suffer from inequality between men and women. For example, only 14% of women around the world participate in local decisions, 19% are members of parliaments, and 18% are in ministerial centers. In Germany, the percentage of women in the parliament is 30%, which is acceptable. In Lebanon, the numbers remain shy at the level of women’s participation in political life, but you, ladies, are able to change these figures in the coming years”.
Farning added, “Germany’s support for these programs comes from our belief in the ability of these projects to change and raise awareness, and enhance women’s ability to raise their voices in decision-making, because we do not see it as a funded program, but as an investment project in human development”.
The speeches were followed by an open dialogue
between the women participating in the forum on one hand, and Mrs. Farning and GIZ program director in Lebanon, Mrs.
Christiane Gaehtgens on the
other hand, in which the two women answered questions according to their long
experience in political and developmental work.
