News and Events

With the launch of the Special Economic Zone in Tripoli, there has been much talk lately on the merits of this venture and its anticipated impact on the neglected and impoverished capital of North Lebanon. High expectations have attracted the attention of various politicians who started calling for the setting up of similar economic zones in other parts of the country. In view of the seriousness of the SEZ issue and its lasting repercussions, we are opting to shed some light on this largely unpublicized and major economic initiative.

After long years of neglect of this vital public service, the government is moving ahead with the privatization of power generation, as per the World Bank’s instructions, while arguing and justifying that it is incapable of containing the fiscal drain of the electricity public company. The first phase saw the setting up of the first power station by the Electricity Company of Zahle, in the Beqaa, a step which is expected to be followed by others, most imminently, in Jbeil.

Political circles in the northern capital of Lebanon were in the past few months very busy quarreling over a project aimed at turning the traditional Jamal Abdel Nasser square located in Al Tal area, in the center of Tripoli, into a parking lot. Similarly to other economic initiatives, and despite its questionable economic feasibility, the project fueled heated political exchanges and reflected deep conflict of interests.

My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign announced in a press conference held yesterday at the Bar Association premises in Beirut its rejection of a draft law petition that will grant the nationality to descendants of Lebanese origin. The Campaign noted that this law petition which comes as a result of an agreement between Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea and Tayyar representative Gebran Bassil is both discriminatory and sectarian. Panelists warned that the said law will once again deprive women of their rights to full citizenship.

The occasions of Mother’s and International Women’s Day created an opportunity for Lebanese women to challenge discrimination against them, particularly when their basic rights in citizenship and equality are still denied. On Sunday March 22nd, which coincided with Mother’s Day, ‘My nationality is a right for me and my family campaign’ organized a sit in at Riad El Solh Square in Downtown Beirut, to reiterate their demands and raise their voice in denunciation of the persisting position of politicians in denying their rights.

My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family Campaign staged a sit-in on 22 March 2015 in Riad Al Solh, in downtown Beirut. For that purpose hundreds of participants converged to Riad Solh square from across the country, from the South, the North, Beqaa, Beirut and Mount Lebanon areas. The Regional Coordinator of the Campaign, Lina Abu Habib, stressed “rights are indivisible and are not subject to discriminatory considerations,” describing as pointless the political approach that withholds the rights of citizens in favor of narrow confessional interests.

CRTD.A organised the second part of its training entitled 'Communication for Change' for the benefit of 14 activists in its nationality campaign. Participants worked during two days on 17 and 18 February on honing their communication skills with the media using the Women Learning Partnership multimedia pack developed for this purpose.

Since its inception in 2005, the Hariri Public Hospital in Beirut was designed to become a model of the hospitalization sector in Lebanon and the Middle East in view of its size and the diversity of its services. Yet, this model that is now in crisis is raising serious questions on the ways in which successive governments have approached health and hospitalization issues.

Four years after the outbreak of the war in Syria, and the resulting inflow of Syrian refugees who recorded a total of 1,154,593 persons in January 22, 2015, according to UNHCR figures, the Lebanese government finally decided to take action to curb the flow. The decision of the government included a set of policies to become effective on December 31, 2014, in order to regulate their entry and presence in the country. These new measures raised wide concerns and objections from several political sectors.

Thirty three activists from Arab CSOs; rights based, feminist and development organisations working in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia and Morocco, met in Beirut upon the invitation of CRTD.A to take part in the second RPM of the SEOW3 project which was held over three consecutive days from 15 to 17 December 2014. The purpose of the meeting was to review the progress of the programme implementation; to discuss the overall context in the Arab region and its impact on women's position with focus on their economic rights.