Home Reports Report prepared by the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering and the National Committee for the Follo w-Up on Women’s Issues for the High Commissioner for Human Rights 9th UPR
Reports - October 15, 2010

Report prepared by the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering and the National Committee for the Follo w-Up on Women’s Issues for the High Commissioner for Human Rights 9th UPR

1. This report is elaborated by the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering and the National Committee for the Follow-Up on Women’s Issues, two non- governmental organizations (NGOs) involved with others in the elimination of discrimination against women in different fields.

2.The Lebanese Women Democratic Gather ing is a secular women’s NGO that was founded in 1976 as per notice 25/A.D. It works with democratic forces to achieve full gender equality in all fields and comb at violence. It takes international bills and treaties as its reference.

3.The National Committee for the Follow-Up on Women’s Issues is a non-governmental association that was founded in 1996 as per notice 71/A.D. It seeks to achieve full gender equality in all soci

al, cultural and politic al fields, taking the Lebanese Constitution and all international conventions as its reference. In cooperation with women’s and civil organizations, the national committee drafted

three shadow reports which were submitted to the CEDAW committee in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

4.The Lebanese Women Movement’s struggle for the elimination of discrimination against women in all political, social a nd economic fields has been incessant. It has not stopped demanding the Lebanese government to lift discrimination off women. Despite its achievements by lobbying the government, particularly in the wake of the Beijing Conference after which the Lebanese State signed the

CEDAW with some reservations on Article s 9, 16 and 29, the road to full gender equality in Lebanon is still long. Lebanese women still encounter many challenges, especially in the Lebanese la

ws relevant to women’s lives, i.e. the Nationality Law, the Penal Code, the Civil Status Law…. These are the articles against which Lebanon voiced its reservations.

5. This report focuses on the status of women in Lebanon by relying on and comparing all international instruments, in general, and the instruments relevant to women’s rights, in particular, on one hand and the Lebanese laws on the other.

6. The Lebanese Constitution does not include any discriminatory text against women. It affirms the equality of a ll citizens before the law without any distinction. In paragraph “b” of its preamble: “

Lebanon is also a founding and active member of the United Nations Organization and abides by its

covenants and by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Government shall embody these principles in all fields and areas without exception…”


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