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Syria/Machreq
In a recent article published by Al Hayat (29/4/2000), author Souad Jarrous points out to the increasing proportion of women's participation in the labor force in Syria. Statistics for 1995 indicate that the industry employs 50% of women whereas the agricultural sector employs around 60% women and the service sector 26%. The article also points out to a 25% representation of women in the house of parliament thus indicating a marked progress over the past few decades. However, the author points out that women's increased participation in the labor force and in public life has not necessarily brought in signification changes in the gender distribution of labor or in the social relations of gender. As in many parts of the Arab world, working women in Syria have to juggle with multiple and strenuous roles whilst common attitudes towards working women do not appear to be favorable despite a number of unconventional examples.
Lebanon/Machreq
The Committee for Abolishing all Forms of Discrimination against Women rallied in front on the Lebanese Parliament demanding the review and abolishment of discriminatory laws and the adherence to international conventions signed and ratified by Lebanon. Women activists demanded that women workers in both the private and public sectors be granted equal rights to men especially in relation to social and medical benefits. The Committee also demanded that Lebanon lifts its current reservations on CEDAW particularly in relation to women's rights in granting nationalities to their children and that the issue be put on the agenda of the next parliamentary discussions.
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The Lebanese Family Planning Association organized a seminar on "violence in the family" on the occasion of the international day of the family. The seminar which was attended by NGO and government representatives raise the issues of increasing practice of violence against women and children in the families and the need to encourage further empirical research on the subject as well as mobilize government structures on this issue.
The NGOs- Post-Beijing Follow-Up Committee organized in collaboration with UNIFEM a three days gender training workshop targeting gender focal points assigned by local NGOs within the framework of UNIFEM's post-Beijing follow-up operation phase II.
The Arab Institute of Human Rights organized a regional conference "Documentation and Information Technology on Women Rights and Human Rights". The conference covered the topics of women rights, concepts and international instruments, the status of women in Arab countries, violence against of women, and the role of NGOs and of an adequate legal framework to combat violence against women.
Morocco/Maghreb
Meetings started in Rabat on 12 May grouping the 20 members of the newly formed committee to review the National Action Plan for the Integration of Women in Development. The committee groups numerous experts, representatives of women NGOs, of the government and of the clergy. The main aim of setting up this committee is to enable all stakeholders to identify "compromise solutions" and common grounds to take the plan forward. Official sources expect that this move will facilitate the consultative process around the substantive content of the plan and will defuse the tension which has built up around that issue. Islamist sources however, have expected that the discussions within the committee will be protracted in view of the wide gap in views and opinions. To be reminded that the main points of dissent revolve around the proposal to curtail polygamy, raise the minimum age of marriage of women from 14 to 18, and limit men's prerogatives in relation to divorce and its aftermath. Meanwhile, the current Moroccan Prime Minister indicated in an interview with the French weekly "Le Nouvel Observateur" that the government hopes to implement this plan by the year 2002.
Tunisia/Maghreb
The Tunisian Association of Mothers (L'Association des Meres de Tunisie) organized on 23 May an international conference on the role of women and families in building a culture of peace. The event was organized within the framework of the international day of the family.
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