UN Women and Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs Join Forces for the Benefit of Lebanese Women
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Aiming at showcasing future humanitarian projects to be implemented in Lebanon in 2017-2018, and seeking out mechanisms to execute its various phases, UN Women and the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs held a technical and coordination meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 18th, 2017. The purpose of the projects funded by several donors including Japan Government, Ford Foundation and UN Human Security Fund, is to create an environment in which every woman and girl exercises her human rights and to live up to her full potential. The meeting brought together more than 30 participants headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Judge Abdallah Ahmad, and the Program Manager for Women and Youth Empowerment Program at UN Women, Faten Tibi. The Ministry's technical team along with the directors of the involved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and representatives of local partners (Safadi Foundation, Fair Trade Lebanon and ABAAD), were active participants in bringing the meeting to a successful outcome.
“The program to be implemented in Lebanon aims at supporting the Ministry's efforts for the economic empowerment of women and girls in host communities and enhance their protection from all forms of violence and exploitation, through developing their skills in management and vocational programmes to enable them to secure a stable income for their families,” says Tibi, Program Manager for Women and Youth Empowerment Program, UN Women.
Several presentations took place during the meeting including; UN Women Humanitarian Programme in Lebanon, economic empowerment, the prevention, protection, participation and recovery in the context of violence against women, the role of the Ministry of Social Affairs in support to the Programme through respective Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as on the UN Joint Programme: UN-Habitat, UN Women, UNICEF and on the UN Women Communication strategy.
Judge Abdallah Ahmad described the joint program with UN Women as one of the best programs implemented with the Ministry of Social Affairs. He added that women who participated in UN Women programs reported that they “achieved important results in the context of the social and economic development of women,” says Ahmad.
This meeting comes approximately two years after UN Women has started executing projects in Lebanon in 2015 on gender equality and within the mandates of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security.