Lebanon

In terms of gender equity Lebanon is above the Middle East and North African average, and also above neighbouring Syria, although in worst situation than Israel, which bares the best score in the region.

“Poverty eradication and women empowerment are our priorities” said Lebanese minister of Finance, Raya Haffar Al-Hassan at the joint launch of the Social Watch report in Arabic and the Arab Assessment of the Millennium Development Goals that took place in Beirut on July 9. Speaking in Behalf of the Arab NGO Network for Development, Ziad Abdel Samad welcomed the minister as “one of us”, remembering her past association with civil society organizations and with the United Nations system, for which she worked before joining the government. He welcomed the public discussion of the budget that is currently happening “for the first time in Lebanon” and challenged the minister to go one step further and invite civil society organizations to actually participate in the elaboration of future budgets.

A group of Lebanese CSOs will deliver to Kofi Annan, UN General Secretary, a letter during his visit to Lebanon and the region.

Civil society groups from around the world are increasingly raising their voices for an immediate cease-fire. The Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the regional focal point of Social Watch in the Arab world, has issued from Beirut the following updates on the situation.

Amnesty International published findings that point to an Israeli policy of deliberate destruction of Lebanese civilian infrastructure, which included war crimes, during the recent conflict.

Let us imagine that we are having tea on a sunny day with our neighbours.

Today, July 30th, another massacre was committed in Lebanon: More than sixty civilians, among them 37 children, were killed by Israeli bombs while they were sleeping in shelters in the village of Qana. They died not very far away from the mass grave holding the bodies of 106 civilians burned by a previous Israeli attack in April 1996 inside a shelter provided by a UN battalion.

A number of Lebanese, Arab and international organizations held a meeting on July 15, 2006 to discuss the current situation in Lebanon.

Press release issued by Human Rights Watch on July 30, 2006. It calls on the UN to establish an international commission of inquiry and states that Israel’s consistent failure to distinguish combatants and civilians is a war crime. Please note that we will be releasing an extensive report documenting civilian casualties in Lebanon from IDF attacks over the first two week's of the conflict this Tuesday or Wednesday.

Say STOP to Israeli War on Lebanon

The Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) organised a press conference for the launching of the Arabic edition of the Social Watch 2004 Annual Report at the Flamenco Hotel in Cairo, the 11 of May 2005. Representatives of various Arab Civil Society Organizations, from 14 Arab countries: Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will attend the press conference.

Like every year at the same period of time, the «Committee of the Parents of the Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Lebanon» works on popularizing its action, breaking the isolation to which the authorities try to confine it and bringing its claims to a successful conclusion. This year, due to the war prevailing in Iraq, the committee’s activity is likely to be marginalized and thus needs your active solidarity.