News and Events

Four months after the onset of the waste management crisis and the failure of various band aid solutions put forward in providing appropriate health and environmental solution, the latest plan submitted by Minister Akram Chehayeb appears to be still pending as it awaits confessional political compromise on new dumpsites, a matter which was met with a wide local popular opposition.

In response to placing the law for reinstating citizenship to Lebanese descendants of immigrants on the agenda of the Parliamentary session for enforcement by necessity, following sustained pressure by the National Patriotic Front and the Lebanese Forces blocs, the ‘Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family’ campaign staged on November 4 a sit-in at the entrances of the Grand Serail and the Parliament in Downtown Beirut. Protesters expressed their opposition to any endorsement of above draft law until after Lebanese women gain their full rights in granting nationality to their families.

The latest civil and popular movement which recently erupted in protest to the garbage crisis, and which later expanded to include new slogans such as challenging corruption as well as the call for the downfall of the confessional system, succeeded indeed in rattling the political landscape already in crisis, and in upsetting the traditional political actors, who have been unable to guarantee the basic rights of citizens.

CRTD.A organized in support of the Nationality Campaign, the first part of a series of workshops entitled "Communication for Change". The event was held on September 3 and 4 at the CRTD.A premises and was attended by the 10 participants involved in the Nationality Campaign. During these two days, and using exercises and various other tools, participants sought to improve their communication skills so as to be able to communicate clearly and convincingly as well as craft compelling messages adapted to different audiences. The training was based on the WLP Multi-Media Training Pack.

The ways in which Lebanon is politically run on the basis of confessional divisions, in the absence of strategic visions, and with the inability of politicians to identify weaknesses in the political system, were all conducive to the interference of external parties, both foreign countries and international institutions, in setting the country’s priorities. This conclusion which in the past was confined to radical opposition milieus is now also recognised by international financial institutions.

Under the guise of reform and the salvation of the Lebanese economy, the process of privatization slowly gains ground in Lebanon unrepentantly, and with the blessing of the World Bank and the IMF. This is taking place in the context of failures of past policies, governmental practices, and the confessional system in resolving the different political, economic and social problems ailing the country.

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.