Calendar of  Activities and Events - October 2003

  • Recent Events

The month of October was quite hectic :

  • CRTD participated with SIGI-L in the planning and delivery of a 2 days workshop on gender based violence. The workshop was held at the UN House and was attended by 56 participants from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Iran. The workshop was entirely designed by CRTD and was based on the CRTD GBV Training Manual.
  • The Regional “Gender and Organizational Change Workshop” was held in Beirut from 18 to 22 October and was facilitated by Georgina Ashworth. The course was attended by 22 participants from Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. The course was based on the ACCEPT model of Gender and Organizational Change. A workshop report is now available in English and will soon be available in Arabic.
  • Gender, Citizenship & Nationality Programme

The regional experts meeting on “Gender, Citizenship and Nationality” was held on 12 and 13 October and was a joint event with the UNDP. The main themes of this meeting were the review of the key findings of the CRTD regional nationality research, prepare for upcoming discussion platforms with parliamentarians and with the media and identify an advocacy agenda. CRTD is also working on finalizing the regional research by the end of 2003 whereby the local and regional reports will be ready for publication.

  • Women Economic Empowerment Project and GAD Capacity Building
  • Local economic literacy training has just started in South Lebanon and in the Bekaa. This follows the regional economic-literacy TOT which was held in Beirut in September.
  • Discussions are underway with prospective new partners in the economic literacy aiming to bridge the gap between eco-lit and financial services for the women and the poor.
  • A detailed briefing on economic literacy was prepared for the WIDE economic literacy network of which CRTD is member.
  • Staff News
  • Jasmine Hegazi from Belgium has just joined CRTD as the new volunteer/intern. Jasmine will be staying for a period of 6 months during which she will be primarily working on the Women Economic Empowerment Programme.
  • A pre-selection of new interns and volunteers has now been completed with placement expected to start shortly.
  • Omar and Rabea attended the WB/IMF meeting in Dubai. A debriefing session was organized in CRTD in Beirut as well as a follow-up visit to the WB country office in Beirut.
  • Lebanon Development Gateway

CRTD is preparing for an extensive 2 days meeting with the LDG Task Manager in order to initiate the first activities of the projects. Meanwhile, discussions are underway with the new webmistress on the proposed structure of the LDG. CRTD is also looking for appropriate premises to house the project. Finally, an intensive ICT training is being prepared for CRTD staff and core partners.

  • MACMAG GLIP news
  • Focal Points Meeting: A brief focal points meeting was held in October 2003. The purpose was to discuss the completion of the Nationality research as well as the next phases and to discuss the review of Phase One.
  • Evaluation of Phase One: MACMAG GLIP is currently undertaking an evaluation of its first phase (2000 – 2003) which was completed last May. A first draft of the evaluation is expected in early November and will inform the discussions of the UK advisors meeting of January 8.
  • Revamp of MACMAG GLIP website: The MACMAG GLIP website is now being revamped and will include new features and services.