By
Olivia Alabaster
BEIRUT:
Women’s rights campaigners voiced Monday their frustration over the government’s
inaction over key issues, namely equal citizenship rights and protection from
domestic violence. At a news conference held jointly by the “My Nationality is
a Right for Me and My Family” and the “National Alliance for Legalizing the
Protection of Women from Family Violence” campaigns, organizers spoke of what
they called the systematic neglect of citizens’ rights.
“Lebanon’s
women want to hold the government accountable for its neglect of their daily
rights and for the continued alienation of their causes from national
interests,” said Lina Abou Habib, coordinator of the nationality campaign.
Nationality
campaigners handed a draft law to Prime Minister Najib Mikati on the issue last
July, and this March, for the first time, it was addressed by Cabinet, and a
ministerial committee formed.
However,
the committee has yet to meet, and Abou Habib believes the president of the
board has no intention of calling a meeting any time soon.
Currently,
if a woman has children with a non-Lebanese citizen, they cannot pass on their
nationality, making it difficult for them to receive social benefits such as
education and health care.
The
ministerial committee is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel, and also
includes Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Justice Minister Shafik Qortbawi and
Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour. There are no women in the 30-member
Cabinet.
While
admitting that the national “political and security situation is tense, and the
demands of daily life are stressful,” Abou Habib added that “this issue is also
urgent.”
Members
of the committee have admitted that the topic has been sidelined, which
revealed a pervasive patriarchal attitude, Abou Habib said.
“The
fact that the committee has not yet met is a sign in itself of the ongoing
attitude of excluding women’s issues from the national agenda.”
Abu
Faour has expressed his belief that despite his personal support for equal
citizenship rights the committee will not be called to session, which is
Moqbel’s prerogative.
Most
opposition, Abou Habib added, comes under the pretext of concerns over
Palestinian naturalization, and is not limited to either political coalition,
with the Lebanese Forces, in the opposition, and the Free Patriotic Movement,
which is in government, both having expressed reservations over the issue.
“Again,
it seems that the government has not worked according to the Constitution or to
decisions it has made – i.e. forming this committee,” she said. “This is a sign
of an ongoing attitude which neglects all citizens’ rights.”
Nationality campaigners
have called for a sit-in Thursday in front of Moqbel’s office, to demand he
call a meeting and for increased transparency over the workings of the
committee.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jul-17/180854-activists-slam-government-inaction-over-womens-rights.ashx#axzz20mFkUNDx
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