Lebanon
Women in Politics
UN Women
Pursuing Equality in Rights and Representation
Women’s experiences running for parliament in Lebanon’s 2018 elections.
UN Women interviewed 75 of the 86 women who ran in Lebanon’s 2018 parliamentary elections. On average they were younger and more qualified then their male counterparts, and the majority ran as independents. They faced violence and sexism, but 91% will run again. – Rachel Dore-Weeks
> report
Lebanon Support
Gender Equity Network
The Gender Equity Network aims to enhance local capacities, improve access to knowledge, as well as fill gaps in knowledge on gender thematics in Lebanon. It brings together civil society actors, researchers, practitioners, and experts, and relies on data sharing and collaboration partnerships with various local actors to develop some of its contents. The Gender Equity Network includes data and evidence-based research and analysis, resources, interactive mappings, info-graphics, and an aggregated online library on gender issues and concerns in Lebanon.
> civilsociety-centre.org/gen
Lebanon Support
Women, power, and politics: milestones from Lebanon
The “Women, power, and politics: milestones from Lebanon” timeline is developed by Lebanon Support, within a partnership with Hivos and URIKA. It aims at documenting historical, social, and political achievements, notable events, and outstanding figures of the women’s movements in Lebanon as well as pioneering leader women’s trajectories. This timeline complements Lebanon Support’s existing timelines on “Women’s Achievements in Lebanon”, and “Women’s Movements in Lebanon” by merging their content and filling the gaps in the data.
> civilsociety-centre.org/gen/women-mvts-timeline
National News Agency
Quota 30%
June 8, 2017
Minister Ogasabian: “This place has its symbolism, ie Martyrs’ Square, because it is the arena of democracy, justice, freedom, law and thus the arena of man and citizenship.”
“The existence of women in political life is effective for human rights and freedoms,” he said. “The government has a duty to include women’s quotas in any election law adopted by it, especially as it stated this in the ministerial statement.” “We demand this, because women have scientific, intellectual and legal energy, which is a necessity for the development of institutional work”.
> nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/288803/
NDI
Women Fight the Odds and Overcome Political Barriers in Lebanon
April 17, 2017
Lebanon is the oldest democracy in the Middle East, granting women the right to vote and run for office in 1953. So why, more than six decades later, does Lebanon have so few women in its parliament? According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Lebanon ranks 185 out of 193 countries surveyed with only 3 percent of women in its 128-seat parliament. This low rate is not for lack of qualified women. Women now account for more than half of university graduates in Lebanon and can be found in senior level positions in the private sector, civil society, and academic institutions. Parliamentary elections, widely anticipated in the next year, are an opportunity to address this woeful imbalance in the political field. The National Democratic Institute (NDI), in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), held a boot camp for 46 potential women candidates over the first weekend in April to launch the Candidate Academy program sponsored by the British Embassy in Beirut. The program aims to provide practical skills and advice to first-time candidates seeking office in Lebanon.
> ndi.org/our-stories/women-fight-odds-and-overcome-political-barriers-lebanon
Facts and figures
Leadership and political participation – [UN Women]
Women in Parliaments: World Classification – [IPU]