It is Thursday September 25, 2015, in the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, and the Holy Father Pope Francis I is preparing himself for a historic address to the members of the UN General Assembly (GA). The pope’s visit coincides with the 70th meeting of the GA just before the latter adopt, unanimously, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The pope’s message was critical regarding rule of law, environmental protection, social inclusion, and poverty. He said, “Real human beings take precedence over partisan interests, however legitimate the latter may be.”
A few months later and it is Wednesday December 16, 2015, at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU). The “Gender-Citizenship Nexus” is being launched with a panel discussion in cooperation between Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Pope Benedict XVI Society (PBS), Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB), and the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLPS) at NDU. The panel culminated with the publication of a volume and the establishment of a network between academia, researchers and the NGO sector, including like Fe-Male and ABAAD among others, to collaborate on issues related to gender, women’s rights, civil society studies, legal reform, social justice, citizenship, as well as policies and university curricula to provide a space of free exchange of ideas.
More recently, it is the fall of 2017. On September 29 — in memory of the late gender studies professor at NDU Dr. Rita Sabat — a course on Gender Based Violence (GBV) is being launched at NDU. To mainstream the gender agenda, the Department of Government and International Relations (GIR) at FLPS worked for a year with gender studies professors and experts from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) at the Lebanese American University (LAU) to develop a 12-module course, covering various aspects of gender, development, and countering violence in society and the family.
Political Love and Roses
“We have had enough of immorality and the mockery of ethics, goodness, faith, and honesty. It is time to acknowledge that light-hearted superficiality has done us no good. When the foundations of social life are corroded what ensues are battles over conflicting interests…” writes Pope Francis in the encyclical letter “Laudato Si” on “Care for our Common Home.” Therefore, mainstreaming gender awareness and addressing inequalities is an organic component of the FLPS, particularly the SDG goal number 5 on gender equality.
On Tuesday May 29, 2018, a one-day conference titled, “A Voice of Our Own: Retelling the Stories of Gender Based Violence,” took place. It compromised a gender fair from NGOs and institutes like IWSAW, Fair Trade Lebanon, Fe-Male, ABAAD, MAP and ALANON, in addition to the youth network “My Fair Home” supporting domestic workers rights in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), and a panel discussion.
The GIR organized the conference in collaboration with the non-profit feminist collective Fe-Male and ABAAD, supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). It saw the launching of a Code of Conduct (CoC) and a pioneer toolkit regarding protection and mitigation of GBV against women and girls within the foundation of "Naseej" project to strengthen national "Prevention, Protection and Response Mechanisms" (PPRM) to GBV in Lebanon.
TV host, writer, life coach, and trainer Milad Hadchiti hosted the opening ceremony (OC). In his speech, GIR Chairperson Dr. Dany Ghsoub called for the immediate implementation of the CoC to deal with all kinds of exploitation and protect freedom from oppression. The first Secretary of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bina Saib said, “We need to step away from stereotypes and challenge ourselves to tell a nuanced and balanced story that engages the public,” while the Co-founder and Co-director of Fe-Male Hayat Mirshad considered that the CoC and the toolkit represent a milestone for women’s rights and an effective method of reporting and following up on GBV coverage.
The OC ended with a rendition of “Bread and Roses” performed by the artist Christina Kairouz; the Assistant to the University Chaplain Dr. Solange Helou, and GIR student Daria Nouaime.
Retelling Truth to Power
The news reporter, writer, producer, and TV host and NDU FLPS graduate Jad Ghosn moderated the interactive panel discussion “A Voice of Our Own,” it included ABAAD Founder and Director Ghida Anani, Beirut-based independent journalist and researcher Frank Elbers, Chairperson and Managing Partner of Planet News Business Hala Bejjani, AFEJ President, university lecturer and researcher Nidal Ayoub, in addition to FLPS Associate Professor and gender expert Eugene Sensenig. The speakers all agreed that social responsibility requires us to construct GBV stories in a way that enables us to celebrate survivors, to allow both women and men to help create a space in which being fair and honest gains a voice in a world, in which it is easier to speak truth to power and easier for people to be good.
A series of validation sessions with media outlets owners, editors, professional, journalists policy makers and civil society advocates – in addition to a national training campaign for the toolkit – will be launched throughout Lebanon starting summer 2018. In order to offer much needed psychological support, self-care sessions for field journalists and social workers will also be conducted by Milad Hadchiti. FLPS professors will continue their commitment to create an open space for people to communicate on gender-related issues by carrying out research projects, white papers, and a variety of GBV-related events, focusing on social justice, conflict resolution, family friendly policies, and diversity management.